Samurai Families
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: As the Samurai have finally gone their own ways, they deal with the lives they have to live afterwards, and trials that may bring.
1. Chapter 1

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by these rights should be presumed purely the creation of the author.

Waking up, Mia found herself in Kevin's arms, wrapped in silk sheets, and couldn't help smiling; wishing this moment would never end. They had arrived in Rio, to find that their parents had booked them into a truly magnificent suite. While neither family had the seemingly limitless funds of the Shiba House, they had really pulled out all the stops.

Mia's family had put money away in funds each week since she and Terry were born, which they agreed they could ask to be used how they wished once they were over 18. Since she had her wedding at the hotel, which Lauren was paying for, and hadn't opted for all the bells and whistles that many were expecting for the girl obsessed with fairytale weddings, it turned out her fund stretched quite far. The remainder was made up for by Kevin's family, who had a few investments, and were more than willing to put up the money for their only child's honeymoon. Very few could boast that their families could send them to a hotel suite in Rio for a month as their honeymoon.

Kevin had taken to sleeping in on his honeymoon. He still trained, making good use of the hotel gym and the favourable climate for time in the pool; he was just willing to do it later in the day so he could spend these mornings in with Mia. She generally joined him, but where he did laps, she was more accustomed to the spa.

The sun was still hanging relatively low, but it was a lot higher, and a lot brighter than Mia was accustomed to. Having been with Kevin for so long, she was used to feeling him leave the bed before the sun was up to begin his routine. Being further south than California, Rio was actually very pleasant at this time of year. The weather was extremely kind to the young couple, and they already had many wonderful memories, a little over a fortnight in.

Mia looked to her ring, and played with it happily. She was still getting used to the idea of her new surname. She still occasionally took a second to realise the hotel staff were talking to her when they asked for "Mrs Chambers". She felt Kevin's arm tighten around her, and turned over to face him.

"Good morning." He greeted her.

"Good morning." She answered happily. "So, are we ordering breakfast again, or will we actually make it to the dining room?"

"I think I'd much rather stay here." Mia told him as she shifted a little in the bed.

"Well, I know that, but it might be nice to see what the breakfast buffet actually looks like before we go home." He teased her. "We can't sleep in until midday every day."

"Well, you go if you want." Mia sighed, curling herself up in the blankets. "I'm not really that hungry anyway."

"Well, I'm not surprised the way you wolfed down those chips last night." He chuckled, starting to get up. "I'll tell you what, how about I see about bringing up some fruit for later?"

"Alright." Mia answered. "I guess we should really check in with the others, I kind of forgot the last couple of days."

"My laptop's on the counter." Kevin informed her, kissing her softly, before heading for the shower. "I'll at least see you by the pool in a bit right?"

"Of course." She assured him, before turning over and pulling the covers around himself. Kevin just smiled and shook his head. He couldn't believe his luck, and had to remind himself every day that Mia was no longer just his girlfriend. She was his wife, and just like her, he almost wished their time in Rio would last forever, but in all honestly, as wonderful as Rio was, he would be happy with her in Antarctica as long as she was with him, it didn't matter.

Back in the States, on a farm a couple of miles from Panorama City, Mike was busy nailing together some fences. He had never been particularly inclined towards such work before, but now that this was his new home, it was different. He showed a real passion for the work. Although Emily's parents had helped them buy the farm, it had remained unoccupied for a couple of years, meaning that there were more than a few things that needed to be done before they could really get to work on bringing in livestock, and starting to sow crops. Still, being a couple of weeks into the year, they knew they'd still have time to start sowing in Spring if they worked quickly.

"Hey, Matthew, can I get more nails over here?" He called out. His friend Matthew came over, handing over a box of nails with a little groan.

"You know, when you invited us up here for a couple of days, I really wasn't expecting this." Matthew grumbled. Mike had indeed invited his old friends Reece and Matthew up to the farm, to see him at his new home. When he invited them, they were kind of expecting a free vacation. Some time playing videogames with their old friend, a few beers...he had mentioned some odd jobs, but they kind of thought maybe that meant an hour or two with paintbrushes.

"Come on, a little hard work never hurt anyone." Mike chuckled in response. "Besides, you aren't complaining come dinner time."

"A little hard work never hurt anyone?" Reece asked, from where he was cutting up some more wood. "OK, who are you and what did you do with the real Mike Barnes?"

Mike just smiled as he heard this. He had to admit that he had changed a lot since he had left them before. Now that he looked back, he could admit himself that he was becoming more than a little bit of a directionless slacker. He hadn't been particularly interested in school, he had shown no real interest or desire in going to college, he certainly didn't know what he wanted to do as far as a career was concerned.

He found that his time with the others caused him to grow up more than a little over time. Kevin and Jayden had shown him that he was capable of so much more than he had become. Mia always encouraged him to try, even when Kevin's patience with him wore thin. Antonio had shown him that it was possible to retain his inner child, and still have drive to succeed and ambitions, but most of all though, he had Emily by his side, almost right from the beginning. She made him WANT to be more, want to be better. She was his reason for pretty much everything. He would imagine if anyone told his old self that in two years he'd be on a farm several miles from the nearest video games store or arcade, with a hammer in his hand fixing up his new home, he'd have thought they were insane. Now though, he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be.

Emily came out, covered in wallpaper paste and paint splashes. Mike had thought it would be safer for her if she left anything that required hammers and sharp edges to him, so she was busying herself with much of the decorating. She had more of a talent for it anyway.

"Guys, there's some lemonade and cookies in the kitchen." She told them. Matthew and Reece just looked at Mike, who rolled his eyes.

"Fine, we'll take a break." He stated as he put his tools away, heading with them into the house. It was tiring work, but he found that when it was his home, his life he was working towards, he found it immensely satisfying. Even in the couple of weeks since they had been in the farm house, he was already seeing it start to take shape into the home he wanted for them both. They got to the kitchen, where Mike saw the refreshments Emily had prepared waiting. Some of them anyway, the plate of cookies was looking a little lean.

"Emily...where's all the cookies?" Mike asked her.

"I...um..." She stammered. "I may have had a couple when I was setting up the rest."

"A couple?" Mike asked her. "There was a full box this morning!"

"I know, it's just...I got really hungry." Emily told him. "I'm sorry; I'll make some sandwiches or something."

"Emily, you barely touched your breakfast this morning." Mike reminded her. She just shrugged.

"I was feeling a little off colour." She admitted. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to worry you."

"It's fine, really." Matthew assured him. "I'll help make the sandwiches."

"Emily, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike asked her. She went aside with him, leaving Matthew and Reece to raid their fridge for more snacks.

"Mike, I'm sorry I just..."

"Emily, are you sure you're feeling alright?" He asked her. She just rolled her eyes.

"I just felt a little queasy earlier." She assured him. "I got better, apparently."

"You just kind of played with your dinner last night." Mike reminded her. "You seem to go from one extreme to the other."

"We've just had a lot on." She answered. "Sure my appetite's been kind of all over the place recently, but I'm sure it'll settle down."

"You've also been up and down lately." He admitted. "You crashed out on the couch last night, and the night before."

"We've both been working hard." She reiterated. "Matthew and Reece both kicked your butt on Call of Duty last night; no one EVER beats you on that game."

"There's a difference between just being a bit tired and what's happening to you." Mike pressed on. He took a deep breath. "Emily...do you think it's possible...maybe that you're...?"

"Pregnant?" She asked him. Mike just nodded. "But...we were careful, we..."

"So were Brenda and Ji, but Terri's living proof that sometimes that isn't foolproof." Mike reminded her. Emily just looked away, trying to think of what to say. Some of it seemed to fit. They had talked about kids, but they hadn't planned on anything for a while until they were settled.

"I'll see about getting a test in town later." She sighed. "I kind of have to do a grocery run anyway."

"Yeah, Matthew and Reece can really put it away alright." Mike agreed. "Still, they're working unpaid, so I guess I can't complain. Hey guys, want to take a quick trip into town instead? The cafe there makes great sandwiches!"

Reece and Matthew were only too quick to accept.

At the Shiba House, Lauren was in the training yard, working with Jayden. Their shinai cracking against each other as they struggled for position, the two Fire Samurai stood facing each other.

"Not bad baby brother." She complimented Jayden as she twirled her shinai and shifting her guard. She went for him again, causing Jayden to go on the defensive, before finally scoring a quick double-strike, seemingly from nowhere. Jayden just looked at her and smiled.

"I've never seen that." He admitted.

"Well, you forget that I moved around a lot." She answered. "I had a few instructors, some of them very different from each other. I've taken quite a few styles."

"Oh, so we're going to play the switching up styles game are we?" Jayden asked her, adjusting his grip a little. "Well, don't think you're the only one who can pull a little surprise."

As they lunged forward again, Jayden moved around, darting past her, and hooking up her legs, whipping them out from under her, and sending her face first to the mat. She felt his shinai strike her on the back.

"What the hell was that?" She asked him.

"A little something straight from the head of the Thunder Ninja Academy." Jayden told her, helping her up. Lauren smiled.

"And how pray tell did you get lessons from a Thunder Ninja?" She asked him.

"Ji has a lot of friends." Jayden explained, handing her a towel as they stepped off the mat.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" She asked him.

"Antonio's doing some of his restaurant stuff, so I'll probably just get in the way." He answered with a sigh. "I know this is important to him, but he hasn't even got a premises yet."

"I'm sure he'll start looking soon." She stated.

"Well, he's taking a trip out to Ocean Bluff to talk to one of his old bosses for a couple of days, so I'll be at a loose end." He continued. "So, I guess that just leaves us. Would you like to go to Rainbow's End? They're re-opening today."

"Oh, sorry I can't, I've got plans." She said, sucking her teeth. Jayden had promised to take her to the amusement park a few times, kind of a family bonding time. Unfortunately, he had picked a time she had already made arrangements. "I've kind of already made a date with Jeremy."

"Oh." Jayden commented. "That would be...three in the last week."

"Jayden..."

"I know, I know." Jayden muttered. "I guess I'm just disappointed."

"Look, I promise we'll do something soon." Lauren told him. "Maybe you should go with Antonio? A trip to Ocean Bluff sounds like it could be fun."

"I guess so." Jayden answered. Just then, Lauren grabbed her towel, wrapping it around herself tightly, covering her shoulders and torso. Jayden seemed a little confused.

"Jeremy!" Lauren called out, seeing him approaching. Jayden turned around. "You're early; we had only just finished up here. You remember my brother Jayden."

"Yeah, we met at New Year." Jeremy recalled, shaking Jayden's hand. "So...both of you do Martial Arts?"

"Yes, we do." Jayden responded.

"Did Lauren tell you one of the first times we met; she dumped me on my butt?" Jeremy chuckled. "I kind of caught her by surprise."

"Yeah, she'll do that." Jayden responded.

"Anyway, I should go and get cleaned up." Lauren stated, backing away slowly. "I'll be as quick as I can."

As she went, Jeremy just looked to Jayden, who was standing, still holding his shinai, tapping it gently on the ground.

"So...um...are you any good with that thing?" Jeremy asked him.

"Good enough." Jayden answered curtly.

"I...can just wait out here." He replied, taking a seat on one of the stone benches. Jayden just shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He answered. "I'll tell Lauren where you are."

Back in Rio, Mia and Kevin came back from the pool, throwing their wet towels into the bathtub.

"Alright Mia, we only have half an hour until the tour starts." He reminded her. They had been taking in a lot of the sights on their trip, reasoning that it they had plenty of time, and even if Kevin ended up coming back for the 2016 games, it was unlikely he'd have the same opportunity to explore the city.

"It's OK Kevin; I'll just be a minute." Mia answered, beginning to get changed. As she did, she noticed she had accidentally left Kevin's laptop on. Intending to just shut it off, she saw that there was a reply to an E-mail she had sent to Terry.

She opened it, and started to read.

"Mia, glad to hear you're enjoying Rio. It sounds like a great city. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures.

I can't say for sure, but from the symptoms you described, I think you might be right about what's going on. You might want to visit a chemist and get a pregnancy testing kit.

Let me know what happens.

Terry."

"Mia, are you ready yet?" Kevin called as she just stared at the E-mail. She had been pregnant once before, and it had all ended very badly for her. She still thought about Evan at times, the child she had lost only days after he was born. While she wanted to start a family with Kevin, when she recognised the symptoms, she couldn't help starting to panic. "Mia, stop e-mailing and come on! The city awaits!"

"Um...alright." She answered closing down the computer. Kevin noticed the look on her face.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. "We can always go another day."

"No, it's fine." Mia answered, wrapping an arm around him. As they left, she just went over and over it in her mind. It was possible she was pregnant, and while she should have been delighted, all she could feel was fear.


	2. Good, Bad, Inconclusive

Antonio was busy packing a bag in his room for his trip to Ocean Bluff. It was something of a business trip. While he was excited about the idea of finally starting his own restaurant, very little research into things showed him that there was a whole lot more to it than the old fish cart. He understood some of the basics, he had done books before. Even though his business was small, and catching his stock himself meant that he didn't have to buy most of it, he still had to keep a record of his sales and the few expenditures he did have, gas tanks, replacement equipment, condiments etc. To do his tax returns properly. He had to keep his permits and health certificates in order, deal with liability insurance; in short, he had a surprising amount of paperwork most people never gave him credit for.

A short look into the additional work it would take to actually have fixed premises showed him that his little mountain of paperwork at the end of each week, his least favourite part of running his business, was only a drop in the ocean. There was building's insurance, a whole different level of liability insurance, rates, upkeep...that was before he even THOUGHT about hiring staff. Between training certificates, yet MORE insurance, payroll, income tax, very quickly he found his head throbbing just imagining it, and wondered how exactly having more people was actually meant to help reduce his workload.

During his travels, he had stopped off in Ocean Bluff for a while, and had worked in JKP for RJ. It wasn't a particularly huge business at the time, but he was now turning over impressive profit margins, and had turned the business into a franchise spanning several cities, including a branch in Panorama City. When he called for advice, RJ had agreed to let him come to the restaurant for a couple of days to give him some pointers on how all that stuff worked. He was looking forward to learning from someone who had been in the business for a while; of course he was also looking forward to spending some time with an old friend. He looked up as Jayden came into the room.

"Are you nearly ready to go?" Jayden asked him. Antonio just nodded.

"It was good of Ji to lend me the bike." Antonio answered. "I wouldn't have minded taking a Greyhound, but at least this way I can stop when I want and stretch my legs."

"I guess." Jayden sighed. "Would you mind taking a passenger?"

"Um...I thought you were staying here." Antonio commented.

"You don't want...?"

"No, of course I'd love you to come it's just, I thought you were going to spend this weekend with Lauren." He replied as he finished packing his backpack, clipping it closed. "I thought you were planning a little brother-sister time."

"So did I." Jayden grumbled as he grabbed a backpack and started to stuff some clothes into it. Antonio could see that he wasn't happy about something. "It turns out Lauren's spending time with Jeremy."

"Oh, right I see." Antonio answered, understanding Jayden's disappointment. Lauren had originally intended to leave and find her own place after Xandred's defeat, only to be convinced to stay at the Shiba House by her brother. He had told her he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her, so they could catch up and get to know each other again. They had missed out on fifteen years together; they were both only children when they were separated. Although he was going to miss Antonio while he was away, he was looking forward to a weekend alone with his sister. "Well, it is a whole weekend, maybe you can still..."

"She suggested I go with you." Jayden interrupted Antonio. The Gold Ranger couldn't help but sympathise with Jayden. He knew that Lauren had a lot of things to catch up on and experience. He understood that dating Jeremy had to be exciting for her. He was not only the first friend she had made outside of the Samurai, the first person that didn't really HAVE to spend time with her; he was also the first person she had ever dated. It was natural that she wanted to explore that, and found the whole thing amazing, but he knew Jayden enough to know that he probably thought Lauren suggesting he go out for the whole weekend was something of a rejection. "So, how about it? Is there room for another on this road trip?"

"Well, it is a bike." Antonio reminded him, opening his backpack. "Put your stuff in here. I guess I'll ride pillion."

Elsewhere, Mike, Emily, Matthew and Reece arrived in town. It was something of a stretch of the imagination to really call it a town to be honest, before he got here, Mike always thought Emily was joking when she told him what it was like growing up. The "town" was basically one street, with a tavern, a cafe, a church, the school, and a few shops. Being a farming community, very few people actually lived in the town. As Emily explained, the term 'town' was a relative term when each home's nearest neighbour could be as much as an hours' walk from each other.

"Wow, it's like a time warp out here." Matthew commented. "I'm almost surprised people are using cars."

"What exactly did you think they'd be using?" Emily asked him a little incredulously. "Horse-drawn carts?"

"Well..."

"We're not backward!" Emily snapped grumpily. "Look, the school has computers, the shops have DVDs and games like everywhere else, the tavern makes cocktails...we can even get pizza in the cafe!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." Matthew said a little defensively, backing away. Mike just put an arm around Emily. He knew she wasn't really offended; the town did look old fashioned. What she said was true, there were a lot of modern aspects to the town, but most of the buildings were unchanged from when the town was first founded, making it look a little like something from a period movie. Emily had pointed it out the first time she brought Mike into town, there were even still bars for people to tie up horses, not that many people rode horses into town anymore. He knew that the real reason for her outburst was her nerves given the conversation she'd had with Mike before they left.

"Look, we need to pick some stuff. Why don't you two go ahead to the cafe?" Mike asked his friends. "We'll be along in a moment, just order for us."

"Yeah, alright." Reece answered, spiriting Matthew away before he said anything else. Emily just looked to Mike.

"I know he didn't mean anything by it. I'll apologise later." Emily assured him. Mike just smiled.

"Well, it's about time we got what we came for." He told her, pointing to the pharmacy. She took a deep breath, before going in with him.

It hadn't changed much from the first time she could remember her parents taking her in. Some of the packets had changed, but other than that, the decor and the shelving was exactly the same as when her mom used to bring her, usually to stock up the first aid kit. As she looked to the counter, she gulped. One more thing hadn't changed, something she hadn't counted on.

"Emily?" The woman behind the counter asked her. She was a kindly looking old woman, quite tall, and broad, with curly white hair. She had rectangular glasses, and a white coat. She smiled seeing Emily. "Well, I'd heard you were back, but I couldn't believe it! Come over here!"

"Um...Hi Mrs Stiller." Emily answered, coming across. The older woman just looked to her, smiling brightly.

"This must be the young man your mother was telling me about." She continued, looking at Mike. "Come closer so I can get a better look at you."

Mike came over, letting Mrs Stiller look him up and down. She seemed to wait a while, almost like she was sizing him up. Mike knew that pretty much everyone knew everyone around here, and a few people had already done much the same. She smiled.

"Well, he's a little scrawny, but I'm sure a little yard work will soon change that." She stated. "He is cute though."

"Thanks...I think." Mike answered. He was still getting used to being referred to as "scrawny". He'd always been toned, but never an especially huge guy. Of course, looking around, the guys tended to grow big pretty young around the farming community due to all the manual work they had to do.

"Now, what can I get you?" She asked Emily, seeming to only just get around to remembering that she was actually there to buy things. Emily looked around, before gesturing Mrs Stiller closer, whispering in her ear. The older woman just smiled and looked at her.

"Really?" She asked. "I'll just go and get it."

As she came back, Emily saw that the packet was already in a bag, so that no one passing would see it. She leaned closer to Emily.

"I promise not to tell anyone, it's your news." She assured her. "Just promise to let me know the results."

"I promise." Emily agreed, putting the testing kit away. Mrs Stiller just whistled as they were about to leave.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Mrs Stiller asked her. She picked up a tub of lollipops and opened it, offering it to Emily. "You always got one whenever you came here."

Emily just rolled her eyes and took a lollipop, before they left. Mrs Stiller just shook her head and smiled as she went back to her work. She had been the chemist in town for many years and it was always heartening to see the people she knew growing up. She loved being a part of the town, and a part of the important moments in people's lives.

In Rio, Kevin was sitting in the restaurant, waiting for Mia. After they had come back from their tour, they had decided to stay in the hotel for dinner. Mia had told Kevin to go ahead, while she got ready. He didn't know exactly why she was taking so long though. He took another bread roll, and buttered it.

"Sir..."

"Look, I'm sorry; I really don't think she will be much longer." Kevin assured the waiter. It was quite a busy night, and there were people waiting for a table. He looked up as Mia finally came in, dodging between tables. "Look, here she is now."

"I'm sorry I took so long." Mia said, looking to Kevin. "What looks good?"

"Well, you do for a start." He answered, noticing that she looked a lot happier than she had before the tour.

"Kevin..."

"OK, the Cullen Skink looks interesting. I'm sure Antonio would love it." Kevin suggested. Mia just shrugged.

"OK, I'll just have that and whatever the chef's special is." She told the waiter.

"Make that two." Kevin answered, handing the waiter the menus. He looked to his wife and couldn't help feeling a lot more at ease now that she seemed to be happier.

"So, what took you so long?" Kevin asked her.

"Oh, you know, sometimes it just takes a little time." Mia told him, placing a hand on his. "I just needed to get a little something done."

"Well, I'm just glad you're here now." He told her, pouring her some mineral water, before doing the same for himself.

Accepting her glass, Mia took a long sip, smiling. She had panicked, and it seemed she had panicked for nothing. She had managed to get a pregnancy test while Kevin was busy taking some pictures, and had taken it just before coming down to dinner. It had turned out to be negative. She genuinely wanted to start a family with Kevin one day, even if the thought of going through another pregnancy terrified her at times. Knowing that she had some more time was something of a blessing. For now, she could just enjoy being with her husband. There would be time later for him to support her on that journey. For now, she would help him pursue his dreams.

Back at the farm, while Matthew, Reece and Mike were back at work fixing up the outside, she took the opportunity to take the test. Mike was in the barn with his two friends, keeping them out of the way while she waited to see what the result was.

He loved the work before, but now he couldn't help feeling like fixing up the farm was taking on a whole new meaning. They had hoped that they would run it for a couple of years or so, just to start making a decent income from the farm, before starting a family, but he was starting now to come around to the idea, almost loving the thought. Seeing the support struts across the roof of the barn, he could imagine putting up a rope swing for the kids. He could imagine seeing them play in the fields. He was starting to become excited at the idea that while it was a little sooner than planned, perhaps that future was something he really looked forward to.

He heard a knock on the barn door, and Emily came in.

"Reece, Matthew can I have a minute with Mike?" She asked them. Mike just looked to his watch, and then to his friends.

"Just call it a night." He told them. "Feel free to sort yourselves something out for dinner."

They both left, leaving Mike and Emily alone in the barn. Mike just came over to Emily, grabbing her hands.

"So?" He asked.

"I don't know." She answered. Mike just furrowed his brows.

"What...what's that supposed to mean?" He asked. "Are you pregnant or not?"

"I don't know, the test was inconclusive." Emily told him.

"Well, we'll get another test." Mike continued. "We'll..."

"There are three test kits in the box; I took all three of them." She interrupted him. "What are the odds that all three testing kits were malfunctioning?"

She looked to Mike dejectedly.

"I was excited too, but maybe there's something else." Emily suggested. "We've both had so much on recently. Firstly the purchase, then the move, and now all the renovations...maybe it's just stress."

"I'd feel a lot better if I had that confirmed." Mike told her.

"Mike..."

"Please Emily, go and see a doctor." He pleaded with her. "Do it for me, please."

"OK, I'll make an appointment in the morning." She assured him. "Since you gave Reece and Matthew free-reign with our fridge, we'll probably need more groceries again anyway."

"I know I'm probably worried about nothing." He assured her. "I'd just really feel a lot better to hear for sure."

Back in Rio, Kevin and Mia got back to their room after dinner. Kevin took off his shirt, throwing it onto the bed and grabbing a robe.

"How about a movie before bed?" Mia asked him. He just shrugged.

"I'll let you choose." He answered, beginning his night time ritual. He always liked to clean up a little before bed. As he did so, he noticed a box in the trash. Bending down, he picked it out, and saw it was a pregnancy testing kit. He looked to the door, realising that had to be what had taken Mia so long coming to dinner. He checked in the box, finding the kit. He ran out into the bedroom, and looked at her.

"Mia." He called out.

"Yes Kevin." She replied, facing him. Seeing him holding the testing kit, she just sighed. "Look..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked her.

"I wanted to be sure." Mia responded, shaking her head a little. "I didn't think there'd be any point..."

"You didn't think there'd be any point in telling me about the baby?" He asked her, smiling brightly. Mia just looked at him.

"Kevin, the test was negative." She informed him.

"Well...it isn't now." He told her. Mia ran over, snatching the box and the test from him, her heart pounding as she confirmed what Kevin had said, starting to read the box.

"I...I mustn't have waited long enough." Mia stammered. "I was in a hurry to get to dinner."

"So this means..."

"According to this, I'm pregnant." Mia gasped. Kevin snatched her into his arms, laughing with joy. Mia held him in response, but her reaction was different. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to feel the joy he did, she wanted to be happy for him, for both of them, but right now all she could feel was panic. The last time had almost destroyed her. She couldn't go through that again.


	3. New Lives New Problems

Lauren got back to the Shiba House with Jeremy after their date, carrying a large teddy bear the size of a young toddler under her left arm. He had heard her talking about Rainbow Corners, and had taken her there for the days. He'd like to be able to say he had won it for her, but the fact was all his attempts at the games, other than the test your strength machine had proven less than fruitful. He had ended up just buying it for her, just so she had something to show for their date.

Lauren got to the door, looking to Jeremy, biting her lip nervously.

"So...um...do you fancy coming in for a little bit?" She asked him. Jeremy looked more than a little apprehensive about the idea.

"I...kind of get the feeling your brother doesn't like me too much." He informed her. Lauren just giggled.

"Well, I'll tell you what, how about I check if the coast is clear first tough guy?" She teased him, heading inside. She looked around, checking around. "Jayden?"

She didn't get an answer. Stepping inside, and putting her keys in the bowl, she found an envelope waiting for her, addressed to her in Jayden's handwriting. She opened it, looking inside.

"Lauren, I've taken your advice and gone to Ocean Bluff with Antonio for the weekend. There's food in the fridge, and the take-away menus are by the phone. See you Monday.

Jayden."

She furrowed her brows, thinking about it. She had recommended that he might want to go with Antonio, but there was a part of her that was slightly surprised he actually did. He had been hanging around the house a lot, and asked her a few times to do stuff with him. She was starting to get used to the idea he was there, and he would be ready to spend time with her whenever she had time. Jeremy came in cautiously.

"So?" He asked. "Is it safe?"

"Jayden's not here." Lauren replied. Jeremy came over, putting his arms around her.

"So, what you're saying is that we have the house to ourselves?" He asked her. Lauren smiled a little.

"I guess that's true." She agreed, turning to face him. "So, what did you have in mind?"

Jeremy pulled closer, starting to kiss her passionately. Lauren reciprocated in kind, her heart pounding in her chest. This was much more than she had ever anticipated happening, far more than she dared to hope for. As they leaned back against the wall, she felt Jeremy starting to peel her cardigan off her shoulders, running his hands over her bare flesh. It was then that her eyes snapped open, exactly at the point his did. She shoved him away as she felt his fingers run over one of her scars.

As he was shoved away, Jeremy just saw her pull her cardigan back up over her shoulder. He couldn't deny what he felt. He knew that everyone had scars, little hangovers from their youth. He had more than a few himself, including a rather embarrassing mark from a barbed wire fence in...a rather sensitive place...from when he tried to sneak into a fun fair as a kid. What he felt though, he could tell it was a lot more severe than a mere cut or scratch. The way Lauren reacted seemed to trouble him too. She seemed like she was hiding her scars.

"Lauren..."

"I think you should go." She told him.

"Lauren, it's a scar..."

"Please, we've had a lovely day." Lauren told him. "Just..."

"Lauren, whatever it is, you can tell me." Jeremy pushed on, trying to come closer, to touch her. Lauren just pulled away. "Look, whatever happened..."

"I really don't want to talk about it." She put down flatly, turning her gaze from him. It still terrified her, still plagued her nightmares. Although the war was over, although the Nighlock were sealed away, and unable to hurt anyone else, she still dreaded the thought of being dragged back into the Netherworld, to once again being held completely at the mercy, or lack thereof of the Forge Master. Every scar, every millimetre of scar tissue on her body was another crime against her that never had, and never would be repaid. Since the Sealing Symbol had taken effect, and not a single Nighlock had come forth, she had started to grow more confident that she had nothing to fear about some Nighlock snatching her back into the Dark Zone, but there was now another issue.

Looking to Jeremy, the way he looked at her, she hated the look in his eyes. If he saw what she was, saw what had been done to her, would he still want her? Would he still think she was beautiful if he saw the ugly, messy mass of burns crossing her arms and torso? What of the brand? How could she possibly explain the fact that on her right shoulder, she still carried a brand marking her as the property of the Forge Master?

"Lauren..."

"Look, I'm sorry, it's just...it's..."

"Complicated." Jeremy sighed in a defeated, weary tone that suggested he had heard this story too many times already. She just looked up to him.

"Jeremy?" She said pleadingly.

"Lauren, do you actually want to be with me?" He asked her. Lauren just looked at him.

"Jeremy..."

"All I ever hear from you is 'it's complicated', well maybe I don't mind that!" He told her.

"Jeremy..."

"We've been going out together just short of a month, and so far all I know about you is you have a brother that doesn't like me much, and a bunch of friends you consider family, and not much else." He continued. "I know more about my barber."

"Jeremy, I know this is..."

"Please, don't say complicated again." He sighed. He looked to her regretfully. "I like you Lauren, I really do, but it's hard when you won't let me in, when you won't let me share in your life."

"Jeremy..."

"You know my number." He said sadly, picking up the bear and handing it to her. "When you decide what you want from this, let me know."

With that, he left. Lauren felt her eyes stinging as her tears began to from. In a lot of ways, she had grown up for her whole life around secrets. More than anyone, she knew the harm they could do, and also knew the necessity for them. There was so much she couldn't tell him, so much she had no idea how she would explain what was going on, to tell him why she was the way she was. She loved spending time with him, but she couldn't think of a way not to lose him.

"Jayden!" She called out, looking into the house. "Jayden!"

She got no answer though. Looking back to the letter in her hand, she remembered that he wasn't there. He was away; he had gone to Ocean Bluff because she had told him to.

The house was now empty, quiet, and most of all lonely. Closing the door, she slumped down, clamping a hand over her face and started to cry.

The following morning, Emily made her way into town, leaving Mike, Matthew and Reece to get on with the renovations. The tests she had taken had been inconclusive, a result which was far from helpful. She only wanted a simple yes or no. She knew that it wasn't an especially brilliant time for her to fall pregnant, there was still a lot of work to do on the farm before it would be ready to start work on producing their wares, and that was hardly the best time for either herself or Mike to be unable to work.

On the other hand, much like she imagined Mike to be, there was a part that was a little excited to think of the idea that maybe they were about to start their family. It had crossed her mind a few times to imagine what their family would be like, to think of having children of their own to carry on their legacy. The idea of succession had never been particularly important to Emily before, but when it was presented to her as a very real possibility, that she would be the first in her family to bring a new child into their bloodline, she found herself becoming excited.

When the Samurai had formed relationships among themselves, many of them had become curious how exactly the whole process worked. To the best of anyone's knowledge, the Noble Families tended to marry out with the other Noble Families, and so no one really knew what would happen when a child was born of two Noble Lines.

They all knew that their families tended not to intermarry, and had, to the best of anyone's knowledge, always married outside the Noble Families, but there was a certain gray area. No one had a complete, full genealogical chart to work from. Some branches of the families had been lost, some others had moved away or died out, some...well...there was no guarantee all births were registered on the family tree. It was indeed possible that two or more of the families had crossed lines without knowing it.

There was something that had only come up in passing out of curiosity before now, but Emily was trying to remember what Ji had said. He had told her that one of his ancestors, the daughter of the original Black Samurai Genkei, had married the daughter of The Grand Shogun centuries ago. It meant that Ji and Jayden were strictly speaking related, albeit distantly, dating back a couple of generations, but it also did mean that there was at least one line to look at when trying to figure out what happened when a child was born to two lines with strong symbol power. As far as anyone knew, that child had grown to be a Fire Samurai, while Ji's line descended from Daijiro, Genkei's brother. It seemed to answer one question, that one symbol power tended to dominate, but that wasn't in and of itself conclusive as to which line would dominate in any child.

The doctor, Dr Weinberg, came back through from his office. He was a bald man, with a bushy white moustache, and warm, brown eyes. He always wore a three-piece suit under his white coat, as long as Emily could remember seeing him. Like pretty much everyone in town, he had known her since she was in diapers, and her mother brought him to her for her shots. He came in carrying her charts. He saw Emily looking at him expectantly.

"Well?" Emily asked him. He didn't seem to respond. "Come on Dr. Weinberg, am I pregnant or not?"

"Emily, please sit down." He instructed her. Emily did as she was told. He gave her the tone he had only given her once before, back when he explained to her what was happening to her sister. Emily suddenly wished Mike was there, wished anyone was there. Dr Weinberg sat with her, taking her hand gently.

"You're not pregnant." He informed her. "However, when I did my scans, I did find something that concerns me, something I'd like to check out more thoroughly."

Emily's heart froze as he said this. Dr Weinberg had a very well-equipped practice, full of equipment and machines that really had no place in a small clinic. It was just a symptom of the fact that he lived in a farming community, and the nearest hospital was in Panorama City, which was a couple of hours' drive for most of his patients. It was essential he could deal with most things in his practice. Emily had originally thought he was just being his usual overly-thorough self when he had ran her through scans, blood tests and suchlike for what was meant to be a routine pregnancy test. He showed her the slide of a scan.

"There is a growth that concerns me." He informed her, pointing to the area on the scan. "Your blood test also showed some things that I'd really like to get checked out more thoroughly."

"You mean I have...?"

"It's far too early to decide what is wrong, but you know I've always believed in double and triple-checking everything." He assured her. "I've booked an appointment for you to see a specialist in Panorama City Central Hospital. He was a colleague of mine, a very nice man..."

Emily didn't hear a word of anything else Dr. Weinberg said. She went into a daze, like someone had smashed her in the face with a lump hammer. She had no idea what was going on, or what to think, all she knew was that she was scared. There was a growth, there was something in her blood test, she was seeing a specialist...Dr Weinberg had been a friend of her family's for years, and he had never been known as one to panic under pressure. If he was worried, then so was she.


	4. BIG problems

Emily got back to the farm...though she wasn't exactly sure how. She couldn't remember leaving Dr. Weinberg's office, she couldn't remember getting into the car, she couldn't even remember the drive home. All of it was just a dull, unintelligible smear of colour and sound in her mind. There was only one thing clear in her mind, one thing that kept echoing in her head.

"_There is a growth that concerns me." _

She had been sheltered in some ways, in the early days some of the others found it amusing when she didn't really get some of the most recent developments like Facebook or Twitter, but she knew enough to know what was going through some doctors' heads when they were talking about growths they didn't understand. Cancer.

The thought terrified her, it was a thought she couldn't shake. She had always been part of a team, but this was one opponent she couldn't deal with alone. All her life, all that time, all that study and all that training...it all would mean nothing if that was the diagnosis.

As she got back to the farm, Mike and his friends called out to her, but it was a tinny, unintelligible din. She didn't even register it as she went into the house. All she could think about was what the doctor had said. There was a growth he didn't understand, there was something in her blood test he wasn't sure about. He had told her to go to the hospital to get checked out, something he hadn't done since...well...Serena.

As she got to the kitchen, she grabbed a glass and started to run the tap, checking it with her fingers for temperature. She didn't really know why, it wasn't like fresh water had done her much good up until now, but she did it anyway. She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned, shattering the glass she was holding as she dropped it, finding Matthew standing before her.

"Um...Mike called." He informed her. "He wanted to know..."

Emily didn't say anything; she just collapsed into him, gripping him tightly. Matthew was hesitant for a moment, since he didn't really know Emily too well, but he ended up just hugging her back. He had no idea what was going on, but the way she held him let him know she needed someone. Reece came in.

"Matthew, where are those...?"

"Get Mike." He mouthed quietly. Reece, like Matthew, didn't know Emily particularly well, but it didn't take a genius to know she needed someone right now, someone she trusted. A little while later, Reece came back with Mike, guiding him into the kitchen.

"Emily..."

He didn't get to finish. Emily just buried her face in his chest, and held him tightly, with a desperate grip that verged on the insane. She couldn't let him go, no matter what happened. Mike just held her, stroking her hair gently.

"Emily, its fine..."

"No, it's not." She sniffed, looking up at him. "Dr Weinberg told me...I...I need to see a specialist."

"Emily..."

"I don't want to Mike I don't!" She screamed at her husband. "That's all they ever said with Serena. They always wanted her to see some specialist or other, but she was bounced around so many, and none of them did a damn thing..."

"Emily..."

"She just lay there in that bed for over a year! She didn't get any real treatment..."

"Emily..."

"They asked us to sign over her damned organs!" She snapped. "Mike they..."

"Emily, what did he say?" Mike asked her a little more sternly. Emily took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts, before answering.

"He said that there was a growth...you know...down there...that he was concerned about." She repeated. "He referred me to a specialist in Panorama City."

Mike just held her tightly. Nothing terrified him more than the thought of losing Emily. Although he had faced death many times in his tenure as a Ranger, the one thing that motivated him, the one thing that stopped him giving up when times were hardest was knowing that she was there, and that he would do anything to make sure she always would be. As Matthew and Reece came back, seeing the moment between them, they just left quietly. It didn't take a genius to know this was a family moment, and even though the town was a mile away, heading there for pizza was still better than interrupting this.

In the Shiba House, Lauren found herself completely alone. It wasn't a unique feeling, or at least...it shouldn't have been. She had been alone pretty much her whole life.

It wasn't like she blamed Jayden for going, how could she? She had told him to leave! She had told him to go with Antonio, but now she was alone in the house, and she needed, she WANTED someone to talk to. It didn't matter if they wanted to talk back, it didn't matter if they were on her side...hell, it didn't even matter if they talked at all. All she wanted was someone to hear how she felt.

Jeremy had said something she had always been dreading. He had walked out, like so many had done on her before, but he hadn't done so out of any form of necessity...he had done so purely because of the way she treated him.

She kicked a sideboard, and it fell open, spilling a couple of liquor bottles on the floor. It was Ji's old Liquor cabinet, something she hadn't known until now. Apparently when he moved out, he had forgotten to take his booze with him.

It was then she was aware of something else. Kitty was in the house! She had heard that there was a stray cat in the neighbourhood, and she knew Mike and Emily had taken to feeding it in their time in the house. It was Kitty that had almost eaten Antonio when he was a fish...she just watched as it hopped over to her, crawling along the sofa before lying down.

"I guess you're in the same place as me." She muttered. "No one around when you need them?"

Kitty just mewed, curling up on the couch. Lauren just smiled. Looking to the liquor bottles, she got up, and poured herself a measure of rum. Stopping as she thought about it, she poured more into the glass. No one was around, no one was coming, what did she care about what other people thought? No one was here! She topped it off with lemonade, before returning to the couch. Kitty couldn't even be bothered crawling onto her lap, something Lauren couldn't really blame her for considering the fact the first time she'd seen kitty, she'd thrown a shinai at her in terror.

"I like him." Lauren stated. Kitty didn't even bother stirring, or moving at all. Lauren didn't know what that meant really, but it seemed like some form of judgement.

"Alright, I REALLY like him." She admitted. "But...how can I tell him about all of this?"

Kitty didn't answer; she just nestled down in a cushion, before falling into a deep sleep. Lauren just took a gulp of her drink.

"That's about what I thought." She answered.

In Rio, Mia woke up to find Kevin was not with her. Although they still had just short of a fortnight left on their stay, he hadn't allowed himself the luxury of a lie in.

She heard him coming into the suite, and smiled as she saw the tray in his hands. It had a bunch of fruits, breads, and juices on it. Clearly he had raided the breakfast buffet for anything that was healthy.

"Kevin..."

"Oh, you're awake." He stammered. "Um...maybe you should go back to sleep and..."

"Kevin, I've had ten hours' sleep." She reminded him. Kevin seemed a little deflated at her assertion. "Look, I know you're excited..."

"I'm more than that, this is our baby." He reminded her. "OUR BABY!"

He ran off to check on something else, leaving Mia with her breakfast. Just as he'd promised, he hadn't told anyone else yet, they wanted to wait until they were past the 'danger period' where some pregnancies just didn't make it. Unfortunately, that was the least of her worries. The last time she'd been pregnant, she'd carried the child...only to lose him three days after he was born. She found herself drawn to that thought, remembering when she had been told that there was nothing that could be done for Evan, and she broke down and wept. Kevin came back at that point.

"Room Service say..." His words tailed off as he saw Mia, a complete emotional wreck. She was crying, but not in the way he had seen before, now she was completely destroyed. Her body was slumped in such a way, it was a wonder there was anything holding her up at all. Kevin ran over to her, holding her.

"Mia..."

"I can't do it Kevin." She whimpered. "I can't."

"Mia, you..."

"I lost Evan, I can't go through that again!" She sniffed. "Please, promise me that won't happen again."

Kevin knew about Evan. When she was 18, Mia had trusted her heart to the wrong person, and ended up pregnant. As it happened, fate was not on her side and he was born premature, and ended up passing away. Kevin knew that this had to bring up bad memories for her.

"I...I..." He wanted to promise her, he wished he could, but it was something out of his hands. Even hadn't died because he was born out of wedlock. He died because he was born over two months premature and his heart and lungs simply weren't able to cope with life outside his mothers' womb. He looked to Mia empathetically. "I promise that I'll be here no matter what happens."

Mia just grabbed him and held him tightly.

Matthew and Reece had been dropped at home on the way to the hospital. Mike, true to his promise, had cut their visit short, and not explained why. He was more interested in what the specialists had to say about Emily.

He paced around anxiously, picking at that hangnail that had been annoying him, stroking that part of his chin that always felt rough no matter how much he shaved it...he was doing anything he could to keep his thoughts away from what could be going on in the examination room.

Emily had been a godsend to him. Before her, he had no idea what he wanted in life. Commitment was just cementing himself into a lifestyle he wasn't sure he wanted. He knew a couple of guys that had done university degrees, only to end up working at 7/11 because they just had no interest in going any further. He had met more than one person who had trained for a career they ended up not pursuing, just because they had chosen it young, and before they really knew what they wanted.

Once he met Emily though, it was a different matter. He knew exactly what he wanted. He never admitted it, but the day he met her, when Ji and the team introduce themselves following their first battles, he had already made his decision. When he felt her handshake, before he even had any cause to think she had any feelings in return, he felt fireworks. He knew from that point on, he wanted to be more, to be better just for her.

A nurse came out of the examination room, a weary-looking man, with deep-red eyes that betrayed the fact he'd had a shift that was quickly approaching 24 hours.

"Mr Barnes, they're waiting for you." He informed him. Mike went in, finding Emily waiting for him. Her skin had always been pale, so the harsh, red streaks running down her cheeks let him know what the story was. The news was not good.

"I have to concur with Dr. Weinberg, there is a growth in you uterus which has me concerned." The doctor told them, with about as much empathy as a mechanic talking about a broken down buick. Mike instantly hated the man, but was listening to what he had to say. "We will arrange an operation..."

"Wait, operation?" Mike asked, feeling Emily gripping to his arm tightly. The doctor just nodded.

"We need to take a biopsy, just to be sure what we're dealing with." He informed them. Mike just glared at him.

"So...that's it?" He asked. The doctor shook his head.

"We will do a biopsy to know what the growth is, then if we think it's dangerous, we'll remove it." He explained.

"And if it isn't?" Mike asked. The doctor just looked down to the floor.

"We'll either use chemotherapy or radiotherapy, whichever we believe is most appropriate, until we're sure it's all gone." He concluded. Mike didn't like this man at all. He had the feeling that he didn't know or care who Emily was, that he had no idea how wonderful a person she was, all he cared about was removing "the growth", that once he had "the growth" in a jar of formaldehyde in a lab, he wouldn't care what happened to Emily, but he wanted what was inside her, and a desire to dissect it for his own study.

"Emily, it will be a keyhole surgery. We really don't require..."

"I'll do it." Emily cut him off. She looked to Mike sadly. "If there's something wrong, I want to know."

"I'll have a room prepared for you." He answered. "Mr Barnes would you...?"

"I'll find somewhere to stay." Mike interrupted him. He looked to Emily longingly, feeling a terror he doubted she could imagine. He had always loved her, from the moment he met her, he always knew there was something about her that gave him the kick up the ass so many people had always told him he needed. There was something about her that made him believe he could be more, want to be more than what he was. Throughout all of the battles, throughout the war, the one thing that had kept him going was making sure she made it through. It was always Emily. No matter how tough the Nighlock was, no matter how hard the fights became, his main concern was ensuring Emily made it through. He had thrown himself in the way of a couple of hits to save her in their time as Rangers. It was, not because he didn't think she could take it, he had seen more than once how tough she was. It was because he didn't want to see her hurt. It pained him more than anything to know this was something he couldn't help her with.

The doctor took Emily into a side room, sitting her down. Emily was more terrified than she'd ever been by any Nighlock. Although all of them had been a major threat to her life, there was one subtle difference. There was something she could do about it. She could swing her sword, she could use her Samuraizer...there was always some way she could make the situation better. It was not to be in this instance.

"Mrs Barnes...we really need to know what we're up against." The doctor told her. "We're putting you under, and we'll be performing a biopsy in the morning. Do you understand what we're telling you?"

Emily just nodded. She was too terrified to think of saying anything. The idea that there was something growing in her, something killing her from the inside that she couldn't do anything about scared her. There was nothing she could do, there was nothing any of her friends could do, it was all down to her.

Waking up in the Shiba House, Lauren felt her mouth was dry, and her head was pounding. She didn't know what to do, or why she felt that way.

"Kitty?" She asked hopefully. It turned out there was no answer. The cat had gone away, trying to fnd somewhere it would be fed.

Lauren hated this feeling, she hated feeling alone, hated feeling like there was no one around, but something caught her eye, a bottle of whisky.

She'd had a couple the previous night because of circumstances, but now she wasn't seeng thing quite the same way. Her brother was away, Ji was away, the other were away...it wasn't like she had anyone to make an impression on. Reaching for a bottle, she started pouring it into a glass as Kitty arrived. Lauren just glared at her.

"Don't judge me!" She snapped. "You were the one that left."

Kitty just hopped away, ending up crawling out of the window, which unti now Lauren hadn't even noticed was open...and the way Kitty got in. She just slumped into the sofa and owned another shot.


	5. Lauren's Intervention

Serena got back to the apartment after her shift and threw herself onto the couch with a loud and satisfying whump. She knew that there was always going to be a downside to choosing a student lifestyle. She'd found that nothing gave her greater disdain for her fellow man than working in the service industry, and working shifts at the Chicken Shack in the local mall had introduced her to more than one person that made her wonder what the point was in fighting so hard to save humanity if that was what she was working to save.

"Another good day?" Terry asked as he casually tuned his guitar. Serena just gave a weary groan in response. "How about a massage?"

This got another groan, but with a subtle difference in tone. The one and only good thing Serena found about moving to the city, of having a whole apartment that was smaller than her old bedroom back home, and having to deal with everything from bills to laundry herself was these moments. Terry came across, and started rubbing Serena's shoulders, hearing a contented groan from the couch.

The phone rang, but Serena didn't bother raising her head. She picked it up off the cradle, holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" She moaned as Terry hit just the right spot to alleviate the tension she was feeling.

"Sereeeeeennnnaaaaa!" Lauren giggled. "Jayden and Antonio are out for the weekend, do you fancy a girls' night?"

Serena didn't answer immediately. The last thing she was in the mood for was a girls' night, all she wanted was to curl up on the couch under a blanket after a long day of serving deep fried snacks to demanding jerks on the desk, but something struck her about what Lauren had said.

"Um...Lauren?" Serena asked.

"Well it sure as hell isn't the IRS!" Lauren sniggered. "So, how about it?"

Serena looked to Terry. The phone had been on speaker the whole time, he had heard everything. Serena just mouthed something to him, and he nodded in response.

"Right, I'll be there..."

"Don't be silly, I feel like a night out!" Lauren told her. "Meet me in the Lion's Breath in half an hour!"

"Lauren, I don't feel like...Lauren...Lauren!" Serena found her protests falling on deaf ears, Lauren had already hung up. She looked to Terry.

"So...she's drunk?" He asked her.

"By the sounds of it, yes." Serena sighed. "Terry, I really need..."

"It's fine, I get it." He assured her. "Just...get changed and...make sure she doesn't do anything she'll regret too much."

A little while later, Serena arrived in the bar, looking around. She was half expecting some kid of display, considering the fact Lauren wasn't usually one to fully appreciate the merits of subtlety, but this time, it took her a while to find her. Instead, she finally found the Red Ranger in a corner, slumped over a table, getting bored out of her mind by some college guys hitting on her.

"OK, I get it, you guys are smart, now kindly get lost." Lauren groaned as they said something. One of them slid a drink closer to her.

"Look, we're all here for a aaaargghhhh!" He screamed as Lauren grabbed two of his fingers, wrenching them painfully, with a couple of sickening cracks. She looked him in the eyes.

"Do you want to try for the other three?" She asked him. "Get lost!"

The three guys stumbled away, narrowly avoiding Serena as they went. Serena sat down with Lauren.

"Well, I see your people skills are improving." She remarked sarcastically. "So, what did he do to deserve two broken fingers?"

"He isn't Jeremy." Lauren mumbled, downing her drink, before gesturing to the barman for two more. Serena could see Lauren was already wasted, but she didn't want to make an issue of it. For one thing, she was a friend, and Serena only wanted to see that she got home safely. For another, even drunk, she was a dangerous fighter as at least one drunk frat boy could attest. Finally, she really wanted to know why she had gotten herself into this state in the first place.

"OK, so...why aren't you here with Jeremy?" Serena asked her. "Clearly that's who you want to be here with."

"He kind of dumped me." Lauren mumbled as the barman arrived, putting down the drinks. It concerned Serena slightly that he didn't bother presenting them with a bill, that meant that it was likely Lauren had already put a credit card behind the bar. With the Shiba Family Fortune behind it, that meant her credit line was pretty much limitless. Serena took a deep breath, before taking a sip.

"Kind of?" Serena asked her.

"We were on a date this morning." Lauren informed her. "It was a day at Rainbow Corners. It was really nice, he tried out all the games, he tried to win me a teddy...in the end he just paid for it. It was so cute watching him..."

"Lauren, what happened?" Serena asked her, cutting through the story. Lauren just took a drink.

"I told him Jayden was away for the weekend." Lauren told her. Serena started to understand a few things at least. If Jayden was away, that explained how she had ended up so drunk. Everyone in the Shiba House knew that Ji had a well-stocked liquor cabinet, and being emotional and left alone... "We...started getting a little hot and heavy."

"That asshole I'll rip his goddamn nuts off!" Serena roared, starting to get up. Lauren just grabbed her, pulling her down.

"No, no, it was nothing like that. Nothing happened." Lauren assured her. "That may have been part of the problem."

"So...he tried to push you?" Serena asked her. Lauren shook her head.

"No, he stopped as soon as I wasn't comfortable." Lauren explained. "He...he got a hand under my shirt...and I felt his fingers on...on one of my scars."

"Your scars?" Serena asked her. "That's it?"

"I'm hideous Serena, you've seen them!" Lauren called out, taking another drink. "He said he wants me to open up to him, he wants me to tell him about myself."

"And...that's a bad thing how exactly?" Serena asked her. Lauren just looked to her judgementally.

"You have it easy, Terry knew about all this before you started to go out together." Lauren reminded her. "How the hell am I meant to explain any of this to Jeremy?"

"Well...clearly our parents did at some point." Serena reminded her. "I know it was a bit of a shock, but mom was a Samurai and dad wasn't. Still, by the time Emily and I came along, he knew all about that whole business."

"But..."

"No buts Lauren, this is something you have to figure out for yourself." Serena interrupted her. "Your past, your scars, your...eccentricities...they're all a part of you. I know you want this to work out, but if anyone is going to be with you, then they'll have to accept all of it."

"But..."

"No buts." Lauren reiterated sternly. "If Jeremy sees those scars and can't accept you, then obviously it wasn't meant to be."

"But..."

"Remember why you wanted this in the first place." Serena said with a wry grin. "You know about the birds and the bees right? Last time I checked, people tended not to do the deed fully clothed."

Just then, a huge group of students came into the bar. Jeremy, unfortunately, was with them.

There was a girl with him, a pretty young girl, a couple of years younger than Lauren by the looks of things, with dark hair, with red streaks through it. Serena rolled her eyes, and looked back to Lauren, but she was too slow to stop her. Lauren was already making her way over.

"Lauren?" Jeremy asked her.

"Jeremy, look, I'm sorry..."

"Have...have you been drinking?" He asked her. Lauren just nodded.

"Look, I know I've been difficult, I know I'm not the easiest..."

Her words tailed off as the dark-haired girl came over with a couple of drinks, handing one to Jeremy. She looked to Lauren judgementally.

"So...this is the last girlfriend?" She asked. "I thought when we broke up; you'd at least look in the same league..."

"Back off Sophie." Jeremy warned her. Lauren had heard the exchange though, and picked up on one thing. This girl had, at one point at least, dated Jeremy. Was this what she was up against? Looking at Sophie, she could see that she was a couple of years younger, and dressed in a tight-fitting t-shirt and black leather trousers that looked like they had been spray-painted on. Lauren had to think, it was no wonder he had gone with her...and she had to wonder what, if anything, she could offer to compete with her.

"Hey, Jeremy tells me you don't go to school or anything." Sophie said cattily, looking at Lauren. "So, what exactly do you do all day?"

There was a small laugh from the group, something Jeremy didn't appreciate, and made known by his reaction.

"Sophie..."

"So...what is it? You just sit on your ass all day on daddy's money?" Sophie asked her. "I wish my daddy was considerate enough to earn enough money to retire on and die..."

Lauren knew better, almost everything in her screamed at her to stop, but when Sophie mentioned her dad, something in Lauren's mind just snapped. She grabbed Sophie, throwing her to the ground. As she went though, she kept a hold of Lauren's sleeve, and tore it straight off her cardigan. Lauren stopped as soon as she saw Sophie on the floor, holding her sleeve. There was a murmur among the other patrons of the bar.

"Ew...that's just...gross." One of the students stated, pointing to Lauren's arm. The Red Ranger held her arm and just ran out of the bar in tears. Serena followed her.

Lauren stopped a little way from the bar, sitting on a bench, sobbing loudly. Serena found her, and approached slowly.

"I know, I shouldn't have attacked her!" Lauren sobbed.

"Actually I was going to say you should have done a better job." Serena replied.

"I'm serious Serena; you saw how everyone looked at me!" She answered. "That's why I didn't want Jeremy to see..."

"Lauren?" They heard someone say. Looking up, Lauren saw it was Jeremy. He approached slowly, unable to take his eyes off her arm. "What...what happened?"

"I got in a fight with your ex." She stated. He shook his head and gestured to her arm.

"I was meaning about that." He clarified as he approached. "What happened to you?"

"Serena, would you give us a minute?" Lauren asked her. Serena left them alone, at which Jeremy came closer. Lauren just looked to him.

"Lauren...those burns don't look like any accident." He told her. "Someone did that to you deliberately didn't they?"

"A long time ago, I was kidnapped." She confirmed, remembering when she had been captured by the Nighlock.

"Who did this to you?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter, he'll never do it again." She assured him, looking up to him. "I'm sorry, I really am, I just..."

Jeremy silenced her by pressing his lips to hers, taking her in a passionate kiss. As they parted, he looked her square in the eyes.

"Sophie...?"

"Sophie's never been good with people, it's the reason we broke up." He informed her. "You...you are...amazing. I promise you, whatever happened to you, no one will ever..."

His words were cut off as Lauren doubled over, throwing up. She wiped her mouth, looking up to him.

"Um...I think I ruined your shoes." She said apologetically. Jeremy just smiled.

"It's probably time I was getting a new pair anyway." He told her. "I'll get you a cab home."

From where she was watching, Serena satisfied herself that Lauren was safe, watching as Jeremy poured her into a taxi to take her back to the Shiba House. She waited until the taxi left, and made a mental note to call her when she got home, before heading off back to her apartment. If she was lucky, Terry would still be willing to give her that massage.


	6. The Morning After Effect

**A/N:** Sorry for the short hiatus, just had to recharge the old batteries. Still, at least I didn't take a three/four month season break right? Hope you enjoy it.

In Ocean Bluff, Jayden was upstairs in JKP, taking advantage of RJ's extensive gym, while Antonio looked over the books with Lily. Since they had arrived the previous morning, he had loved spending time with his old friend, but he wasn't purely on a personal visit. He was there to find out how he ran a business on the scale of JKP.

He had run his cart for many years before he arrived in Panama City, but he knew that there was a whole different level of paperwork involved in running an actual restaurant. RJ had explained to him that one of the real secrets to his success was in letting Lily do his books. Since her tenure as a Ranger had ended, and she had gotten together with RJ, the business was now a joint venture, so she was a lot more invested in its success than she had been. It turned out that she had a real gift for the paperwork.

"So you see, the service period pay-ins are just the same, there are just a lot more transactions." Lily explained, stapling some paperwork together. "So, by doing one pay-in for the lunch service, and one for evening service, and checking the receipts, you can keep track of the takings. It's just exactly the same..."

"There's just a lot more paper." Antonio stated as she put the sheets aside, putting the last figures into her computer spreadsheet. "Now, since it's the end of the week, I like to do the payroll, since that'll give me a better idea of the outgoings..."

Jayden had stopped listening a long time ago. Antonio was there to learn how to run the business, but Jayden was only too happy to just invest the money and be done with it. All this talk of spreadsheets, paperwork, receipts...it all sounded like a very quick way to a chronic headache. Taking full advantage of RJ's equipment to have a workout helped him with his frustrations over his own situation.

He was still a little hurt by the fact that Lauren had been spending so much time with Jeremy. Since he had left to go to Ocean Bluff, she hadn't even sent him a text to ask if he'd arrived safely. He imagined she had to be too busy with Jeremy. Considering the fact that she had the apartment to herself...he had to try hard to keep that image out of his head. She was his big sister, and while she'd only been back in his life a couple of months, there were some things that he could really live without visualising.

"Whoa, whoa, ease upon the bag there, I just got it for Christmas." RJ said, putting a hand on Jayden's shoulder as he came in from the restaurant. "I'd like it to last a couple of years at least."

"Sorry." Jayden answered, easing up a little on it. RJ just sighed.

"Look, whatever you're upset about, maybe you'd like something a little more resilient than my poor punching bag to work it off." RJ suggested. "Give me ten minutes to get changed. We can have a little friendly Pai Zhua/Samurai competition."

He made his way over to where Antonio and Lily were doing the books, stopping to give her a little kiss on the cheek.

"Jayden's pretty upset about something." He commented. Lily just rolled her eyes.

"So that's why he's been treating that punch bag like Master Xandred." She sighed. "It's kind of hard to concentrate when it sounds like a nuke going off every few seconds."

"He's just...he's just having a rough time with the whole family thing." Antonio explained.

"The mysterious Shiba sister?" RJ asked in response.

"She's been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend." Antonio told them. "I guess he just feels left out."

"Well, the first boyfriend is kind of a big thing for a girl." Lily reminded him. "It might not have ended too well, but what I had with Theo was a really big thing for me. It killed me when we fell out, but now we're talking again, it feels more like we're family than friends."

"Well the thing is, Lauren's only been in his life a couple of months." Antonio reminded her, defending his boyfriend. "He asked her to stay in the house because he wanted to get to know her again, to make up for lost time. It's not been that easy for either of us. I love Lauren and everything, but do you think it was ideal giving up a house to ourselves to let his sister stay with us?"

"As much as we love the guys, we do like having our own space now." RJ agreed. He looked to Antonio.

"I'll have a word with him later." Antonio told him. "I can't imagine this trip is much fun for him, I haven't had much time either."

"Well, I'll keep him occupied until lights out." RJ answered. "Just remember, market first thing. All the good stuff's gone by 5:00"

"5:00?" Antonio asked. While he had been used to getting up early to go fishing, he didn't have a business on the same scale, so he needed a lot less stock. He didn't need to get up QUITE that early. RJ just slapped him on the shoulder.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of the restaurateur." RJ answered, heading to get changed. Antonio just groaned and shook his head.

"Alright, so you were going to show me the pay roll?" Antonio remarked. Lily just pulled up another spreadsheet.

"OK, this is where the fun really starts." She answered.

"Why do I doubt that?" Antonio muttered under his breath.

In Panorama city the following morning, Lauren woke up, finding Serena sitting at the end of her bed, wrapped in a blanket. She wasn't much of a drinker; in fact, this was the first time she had ever really gotten drunk, which was something of a good news/bad news situation. It was good news, because it meant that her hangover wasn't especially bad. She had a slight headache, and her mouth was a little dry...and had an aftertaste of...oh God, she remembered she'd puked on Jeremy's shoes! That was the downside; unfortunately, she remembered everything about the night.

Pulling back the covers, she found herself dressed in her red, silk pyjamas. She got to her feet, making her way over to Serena and shook her gently to wake her. It didn't take much, the chair, while comfortable was no substitute for a bed.

"Serena?" Lauren asked her. Serena started to stir, and looked up, smiling at her.

"So...how are you feeling?" She asked. Lauren just groaned.

"Not brilliant, but I'll live." Lauren answered. "I'm definitely never drinking again."

"Famous last words." Serena chuckled, remembering saying much the same thing as a teenager the first time she'd gone to a party and gotten a little drunk. Needless to say she hadn't stopped drinking; she had just learned how to be more sensible when she did. "Lauren, what do you remember about last night?"

"Sadly, way too much." Lauren told her. "I puked on Jeremy."

"Yeah, you really did." Serena agreed. "You both talked for a bit, and then we poured you into a taxi."

"So...you came with me?" Lauren asked her. Serena just nodded.

"I figured it was best not to leave you alone." Serena informed her. "I'm not the only one."

"What do you...?" Lauren sniffed the air, and realised she smelled bacon and sausages cooking. She had to think for a moment about this. Jayden and Antonio were in Ocean Bluff, Mia and Kevin were in Rio, and Mike and Emily were on the farm. She looked to Serena in panic.

"He..."

"He's here, he slept on the couch." Serena informed her. "I said I'd stay here to keep an eye on you, but he said he wanted to make sure you were alright, so he stayed over."

"He didn't...?" Lauren asked, gesturing to her pyjamas. Serena just shook her head.

"Um...no, that was my lovely task." Serena assured her. Lauren headed to the bathroom, and was never more grateful that she had an en suite. It meant she could get cleaned up before heading out to see him. She already had a bit to apologise for, the last thing she needed was to look like a complete mess.

After a shower, she started to get dressed, but as she reached for a cardigan, she remembered one of the things that started the whole argument in the first place. It was her insistence on pulling away from him, of hiding so much of herself from him. He already knew about the scars, he just didn't know how far they extended. She decided not to bother with the cardigan, taking Lauren's advice to give him a chance, instead wearing a sleeveless t-shirt. She hated looking at the scars, it was the main reason she always wore long sleeves. Tying back her hair, she went out into the kitchen, finding Jeremy and Lauren sitting at the counter.

"Lauren?" He asked her. Serena looked between Jeremy and Lauren.

"I think I'll just...eat this outside." She stated, making her way out to the garden with her plate. Jeremy just gestured Lauren over, at which she sat down. He served her up a plate.

"I know you don't normally eat this kind of stuff, but trust me, it feels good once in a while." He stated, piling her plate up with sausage, bacon, beans and scrambled eggs. Lauren didn't usually eat stuff like that, but she had to admit, it did smell amazing. She sat down with him, at which he just looked to her.

"So...you really weren't kidding were you?" He asked her, seeing the massive collection of burn scars on her arms. It was far more than would be likely to occur as a result of any accident. "You really were kidnapped."

"It's something I don't like to talk about." Lauren replied sadly. "I know I'm not the easiest person to be with. I have more than a few hang-ups..."

"Hey, everyone has baggage, but this is something else." He answered. "You were kidnapped? Someone tortured you? I can't even imagine what that was like."

"It's something I'd never wish on anyone; no matter how much I hated them." Lauren answered him. "Every day, I'd wake up, and every day they'd hurt me. I never once begged for mercy, but only because I knew that they'd never show it. I can't count the number of times that I'd wished that one of them would make a mistake and take things a little too far, just so I didn't suffer any more."

She looked to him, looking in his eyes.

"There are still some nights I remember what happened." She told him. "I get nightmares, and I wake up screaming."

He reached over, touching the one scar that was the harshest reminder. It was the brand of the Forge Master, burned into the back of her right shoulder. Lauren pulled away at first but looking to Jeremy, she felt a lot less self conscious. He ran his fingers over it.

"I really hate that one." She informed him.

"I can understand why." He said sympathetically. He cradled her face, turning her towards him. "I meant what I said last night. You never have to be scared like that again. As long as I have anything to do with it, no one will ever hurt you like that again."

"Thank you." Lauren whispered, before drawing in, kissing him softly. "Um...I still owe you for a pair of shoes right?"

"OK, whatever you do, never become normal." He chuckled as he turned his attention back to his breakfast. "It's what I love about you."

Lauren just smiled, hearing him say that. She drew in, kissing him again. Seeing them from her vantage point just outside the door, Serena just put her plate on one of the benches outside, knowing that Lauren would likely get it later, and quietly made her way out of the yard. As she did so, she turned on her cell phone, and it promptly blew up with messages and missed calls. She'd turned it off so she wouldn't disturb Lauren as she slept off the night before. Opening one of the messages, she saw it was from Mike.

"Mike, its Serena." She told him. "I had my phone turned off. What's...?"

"Serena, where were you? I've been trying to get hold of you all night!" Mike told her. "Look, it doesn't matter. We're on our way to the hospital."

"The hospital?" Serena asked. She didn't like the sound of that. "What's my little disaster area of a sister managed to do to herself now?"

"Serena, just...get there as soon as you can." Mike told her. "The doctor's sending her for some tests. She really wants to see you. Your parents are already on their way."

"I'll be there in half an hour." She answered, hanging up. She hated hospitals, everyone knew she did. However, she had been through so many tests, she knew how terrified Emily had to be, especially if her family was on their way. Hanging up, she called Terry to let him know what was going on.

Meanwhile, over in Rio, the holiday had taken a different turn. Kevin and Mia had already agreed not to tell anyone back home until they could tell them the news in person. In the meantime, Kevin was doing everything he could to make Mia feel better about the pregnancy.

She loved Kevin, and she loved the thought of having kids with him, but as soon as she had heard, the first thought across her mind was remembering what had happened to Evan. It terrified her to think that it might happen again, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get past that thought. She knew it wouldn't be good for her or the baby to stress over it so much. Kevin was doing everything he could to keep her happy. He was really pulling out all the stops since she had told him what was troubling her. He was always fussing over her, making sure she was comfortable, and checking she had everything she needed. They had left the suite a couple of times, but other than that, her world had become a shower of cups of tea, back rubs, and nutritious snacks.

She was watching a movie on the TV, when Kevin came over to her.

"Kevin, weren't Vikings and Romans separated by a few centuries?" Mia asked him. "That one guy claimed to have fought Romans, and another claimed to have vanquished Vikings."

"I don't think the point of 'Brave' is to be historically accurate." He chuckled. "To the best of my knowledge, bears were never native to Britain either."

"I thought so." Mia said with a smile, gesturing to the bed. Kevin climbed in beside her, putting his arm around her. "Thank you for all of this."

"Hey, it's what I signed on for when we said I Do remember?" He asked her. "Whatever happens from now on, whatever we face, we face it together."

"I guess when we get home..."

"When we get home, we'll take you straight to a doctor." He assured her. "We'll get every test done, and we'll make sure we know exactly what's happening every step of the way."

"I love you so much right now." She told him. Kevin turned his attention back to the film, watching the three little red-headed terrors causing chaos on screen.

"Say, if we have..."

"We better NOT be having triplets!" Mia grumbled. "I might be looking forward to have a family, but I do not want to go through that more than once in one day!"

"Well, there's no history of multiple births in my family." He told her, holding her gently in his arms. "So if it happens..."

"It better not." She told him, kissing him softly. "That's the end of it."

"I don't think that's how it works, but we can only hope." Kevin assured her as they continued to watch the movie.


	7. Emily's Test

Serena got to the hospital in record time. It was at times like this, she really wished she had a Samuraizer. It would have been so much easier if she could have conjured herself a car, but she found that flagging down a cab and paying the driver double the going rate worked almost as well. Getting out of the cab, she went to the desk.

"I'm here to see Emily Godfrey." She announced. The clerk at the desk checked her computer, and found the room.

"Emily Godfrey...here she is, third floor, fourth room on the left." She instructed Serena, pointing down the hall to some elevators. "The elevators..."

"Trust me, I know where they are." Serena cut her off, before heading to the elevators. Of all the places on Earth she would ever want to go, Panorama City Central Hospital was the one place she wanted to be about as much as she wanted a personal invite onto Master Xandred's junk. She had spent so long in hospital when she fell ill, having test after test done to her, until the doctors finally agreed there was nothing that they could do for her, that it left a very definite dislike of anything remotely medical on her. She had gone on that elevator more times than she could count, going between examination rooms and facilities. She had a feeling that she'd probably be able to navigate the hospital blindfolded. As she got to the third floor, she took the left, finding her dad waiting outside the room for her.

Martin looked decidedly ill with worry. Coming up to him, Serena hugged her father tightly.

"How is she?" Serena asked him.

"She's pretty shaken up." He informed her. Serena went inside, finding Emily, still fully clothed, sitting on a bed. Mike and Ava were with her, Mike holding her hand gently. As soon as Serena got in, she went to Emily, hugging her warmly, followed closely by Mike.

"I got here as soon as I could." Serena told them, accepting a hug from her mother. "So, what's happening?"

"We don't know yet." Mike informed her, putting his arm around Emily again. "We're waiting for the doctor."

"I thought I was pregnant, so I went to our doctor." Emily started to explain to her sister. "They found...something, but it wasn't a baby. They...um...they want to go in and see what it is."

Serena was starting to get the picture. She just sat with Emily as they waited, holding her hand. She hated to see Emily like this. Her tenure as a Ranger, taking over Serena's responsibility had been something that she had never asked for, or something that she wanted, but in the end, it had turned out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to her.

Getting away from her hometown, all the memories of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her peers, and all the things that made her feel small and insignificant had allowed her to grow. Although it terrified her when she went to the city, the fresh start gave her the room she needed to grow and discover who she was as a person. Right now though, she seemed to almost be back to being the girl Serena remembered leaving the farm to take on the war that was never meant to be hers. Her own experience meant that she could understand how terrifying it was. This was a foe Emily couldn't face, that she couldn't really do anything about. She was at the mercy of whatever the doctors told her. Martin came in, accompanied by one of the doctors. He was an older man, with white, thinning hair, and slightly leathery skin. He tucked his chart under his arm, before offering a hand to Emily.

"Good morning Emily, my name is Dr. Timothy Waller." He introduced himself. "Dr Weinberg was a colleague of mine some time ago."

"He mentioned that." Emily answered. He just looked around the room.

"Well, it seems there are a lot of people here to support you, that's something." He stated, looking back to her. "I just wanted to talk through what you're here for. Normally I do this one-on-one, and I can't discuss your case with anyone else without your permission, so..."

"Mom, dad, would you mind?" Emily asked them. Martin and Ava understood. Martin kissed her forehead, as he took Ava out into the hall. She didn't want them in the room, she didn't want them to hear it from the doctor, she would tell them herself when she had the chance. Mike and Serena stayed at Emily's side. Dr Waller just took a seat.

"Alright, I presume that everyone that's still here, you don't mind me discussing this in front of." He asked for clarification. Emily just nodded.

"This is my fiancé Mike, and my sister Serena." She told him. Dr Waller looked to Emily, making sure he was talking to her, not to the others. Serena appreciated that part, so many of her doctors had a habit of talking among themselves over her like she wasn't in the room.

"Well, what we're going to do today is a simple procedure." He assured her. "It's called a biopsy. Basically what that means is we're going to cut off a little piece of the growth to run some tests on just so we know what it is. The problem is as soon as people hear the word 'growth', they think all sorts of really scary things, but it really could be one of a number of things, many of which are essentially harmless."

"So...what happens once you know what it is?" Mike asked him. Dr Waller took a little breath.

"Well, the fact is that we'll probably remove the growth, but depending on what we find, it may affect how we proceed." He replied honestly. "We may need to take some surrounding tissue for further testing..."

"Wait, further testing?" Emily asked, interrupting him. Although he was doing his best to avoid the issue, since they still weren't sure it was an issue yet, the one thought that kept going through her mind, the one she couldn't shake. "To see if...it...has spread?"

"Yes, that is a possibility." He admitted. "However, from our scans, the growth is quite small; it looks like we've caught this early..."

"So there's a chance you might have to..." Emily found herself unable to say it, struggling with the thought. Tears started to form in her eyes. "You might have to remove..."

"That is a possibility I'm afraid." He told her. "However, I'm confident that's a worst case scenario."

Mike and Serena held Emily as he told her this. It was a horrifying thought, one she'd had since she found out about the tests. Dr Waller took another deep breath.

"Now, there is something else to discuss." He continued. "Even if all goes well, even if as I believe, there is nothing further to worry about, there may still be some complications."

"What kind of complications?" Mike asked.

"Well, you are both young, and it is possible you may wish to start a family." He carried on. "No matter how well the surgery goes, there will be some scar tissue left by the operation. That does mean that it will significantly reduce the chances of conceiving naturally."

"I won't be able..." Emily started to say. Mike just held her tightly.

"There are other options, which you may want to consider." He told her. "You may wish to consider having some of your eggs frozen before the operation, just as a precaution."

Emily just nodded, wiping her eyes dry as she heard this. She wasn't at all sure what was going on anymore. She'd been hit with a lot of information all at once. Dr Waller placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You should get changed; I've scheduled your biopsy for midday." He told her. "Someone will be along to administer your anaesthesia shortly."

He left the room, leaving Mike and Emily in each others' arms, Serena gently rubbing her back. Emily faced a nightmare, one that her family was only too happy to help her through in any way they could.

Lauren went to Panorama University to pick up some brochures. Although she had been isolated in all her years of travelling, her sensei had never compromised on her formal education. They all knew that all going well, there would be a day that Lauren would have to make a life for herself outside of the war with the Nighlock. Although the Shiba fortune was such, she really had no need to do anything, but after a lifetime of training and fighting, she just couldn't sit on her backside for the rest of her life. She needed to do something, and learning something outside of her comfort zone seemed like a good place to start.

She'd been tutored during her years of travelling, and it placed her in good stead for a few entry-level courses. It didn't help that she still wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do, but at least she knew she had options. She was happy that she could get into Panorama University, which would mean she could get to see Jeremy during the day while he was studying. She heard a call and turned, seeing him running over to her.

"Lauren, how did things go at the office?" He asked her. He knew that she had intended to look around some of the local colleges and universities for courses that interested her.

"I've got a few options." She told him. "I've still got a couple of other campuses to hit though."

"Well, maybe you can stop for a little lunch first?" He asked her. "I've got an hour until my next class."

"That sounds..." Lauren's words tailed off as she saw Sophie with some other students a little way off. She was wearing a bandage on her wrist. Lauren knew better than to use her skills in anger, to use them for something other than self defence, but when she had met Sophie, when the younger girl started to insult her, she had made the mistake of saying stuff about her dad.

She had only presumed that Lauren was living on the inheritance from her dad, based on what Jeremy had told her about the fact Lauren didn't work or go to school. Realistically, she had no way of knowing the truth about John, but just hearing someone talk about her dad disrespectfully always got to Lauren. The fact she was drunk at the time meant she had taken things too far and thrown her to the floor. She looked to Jeremy.

"We can always eat off campus." He suggested.

"No, if I am thinking of going here, I guess I'll run into her from time to time." She answered. "Maybe I should...?"

"I think it's probably best to just leave it alone." Jeremy suggested. "She was pretty embarrassed getting dumped on her butt."

"Please, it'll just take a minute." Lauren assured him, heading over. Sophie was talking with some friends when she saw Lauren and silenced them. She crossed her arms.

"Well, if it isn't the psycho drunk." She taunted her. "Sleep it off did you?"

"Look Sophie..."

"Stay away from me." Sophie warned her. "There's security just over..."

"I'm not going to do anything I swear." Lauren assured her. "Look, obviously the other night was just a bad night. We got off on the wrong foot."

"You threw me to the floor!" Sophie snapped. Lauren just nodded as she heard this. She couldn't defend her actions. She just took a deep breath.

"Look, my dad...he died a long time ago." Lauren explained. "He gave his life defending..."

"Your dad was a soldier?" Sophie interrupted her. Lauren wasn't sure how she was going to explain what she meant. Inadvertently, Sophie had given her a way out.

"Yeah, he was." Lauren told her semi-truthfully. "You started running him down, and I was drunk, but that's no excuse. I really had no right to do what I did. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Sophie just rolled her eyes. Lauren extended a hand.

"Maybe we can start again?" Lauren suggested. "I'm thinking of coming to school here, I'd really prefer it if we could be..."

"Yeah, I think friends is a little much to ask." Sophie answered. Lauren just nodded, accepting what she had said. She was still finding the whole making friends thing difficult, but even she knew that throwing someone across a room wasn't the kind of first impression that helped much in forming a friendship. She just resigned herself to the fact that Sophie wasn't likely to ever be her friend. Re-joining Jeremy, Sophie watched her go, with a disbelieving shake of the head, before turning back to her friends.

Back at the hospital, a little after lunch time, Emily started to come back round after her biopsy. Dr Waller, her parents, Mike and Serena were waiting.

"How are you feeling?" Dr Waller asked her.

"A little queasy." Emily admitted. He just nodded in understanding.

"That's to be expected." He assured her. "It'll pass in a couple of hours. In the meantime, I just wanted to assure you that everything went really well. We're all really positive about it, and we should have the test results back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Serena asked. "I thought these things took..."

"Yeah, that seemed odd to me too, but apparently the lab got a call and put your tests to the top of their list." He told her. "I don't know who you know, but it seems someone with some pull really likes you."

They all knew what that meant. While only immediate family were at the hospital, Emily was sure that by now Ji would have heard and put in a call to one of his many contacts.

"For now, try to get some rest." He told her. "We'll get you something to eat in a little while."

"Can we stay?" Mike asked.

"Alright, but she really should rest." He reiterated. "I'd suggest you aren't long. The more rest she gets, the quicker she'll be back on her feet."

He left them, at which Martin came over.

"We'll give the two of you a minute." He told Emily, gesturing to Serena and his wife. "There'll be plenty of time to talk later."

"Thanks dad." Emily answered. They all filed out of the room, leaving Emily and Mike alone. Mike held her hand.

"Mike..."

"It's alright Emily, I'm here." He assured her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Mike, you heard what he said before I went in." She told him. Mike just furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, he said that it's probably nothing." He reminded her. "He said you'll probably be fine..."

"No, I meant about the other part." She clarified, sniffing back a tear. Mike knew what she meant. It wasn't something he was thinking about too much; right now all his thoughts were on Emily. "Mike..."

"Don't worry about that now Emily." He told her. "All that matters..."

"Mike you say that now, but what if he's right? What if...?" Her words tailed off. "What if we can't have kids?"

"Emily, that isn't..."

"Mike I know you're saying that, but you know that isn't true!" Emily insisted. "You know as well as I do that our Symbol Power runs in our families."

"Emily..."

"Our family has a choice; Serena can still have kids which can carry on our legacy. You're an only child." Emily explained. "I don't want you to miss out because of me."

"Emily, the Nighlock are gone." He reminded her. "I would love kids of my own, but if that's off the table, I really don't care. All that matters to me is that you're alright."

"Mike, don't just say that. You can't possibly know how you'll feel in five, ten years time." She reiterated. "I love you, and I really want to be with you, but the last thing I want is for you to choose between me and your Symbol Power. If this happens, then...you won't pass on your Symbol Power."

"Emily, let's...let's cross that bridge if we come to it." Mike answered. "Just...rest for now."

As she turned on the bed, Mike stayed with her, waiting for her to go to sleep. He just sat silently with her, looking at her. He knew what she was really saying. She was giving him a way out. She was urging him to leave if she couldn't give him the family that tradition, that the legacy of the bloodlines required. For some families, it was enough that there was other options, that they could adopt, but Symbol Power ran in their bloodline, meaning that any kids Mike had would have to be his if they were to inherit the Forest Symbol Power. It was a hard thought, something he didn't want to consider, but looking to his wife, he already knew one thing. He could never leave her, even if she wanted him to. She was the most important thing to him.

Back at the Shiba House, Lauren was going through some brochures, having had a fun day looking around campuses. She had many choices, but she had already narrowed her options down to two schools. She didn't want to go somewhere she would be completely alone and have to start making friends from scratch. The community college might not be as prestigious as a university, but it had a number of amenities and courses that she liked the look of, and of course, that was where Serena was going to school. It meant she would have someone to talk to, someone she knew.

Panorama University though also had some appealing options, and Jeremy went there. It would mean she could spend a lot more time with him. She wished Jayden and Antonio were there to help her with the choice, but they had called to tell her they were staying the rest of the week at Ocean Bluff. It seemed Antonio had a lot more to learn than he originally thought.

She heard a knock on the door, and pulled herself away from the mountain of choices, and opened the door. There was a man in a suit standing there.

"Lauren..."

"I'm Lauren." She interrupted the man, curious as to who he was. Very few people came out as far as the Shiba House. "Can I help you?"

The stranger just presented her with a large envelope. Lauren was confused, but took it from him.

"You've been served." He stated, before leaving. Lauren just opened the envelope, and started reading. She saw the letter inside was on headed paper, which on closer inspection was from a lawyer's office. She started to read, and her eyes grew wide.

"Assault?" She gasped. "Sophie's suing me?"


	8. Shiba Family

In Ocean Bluff, Antonio was working hard in JKP. Even Jayden had been convinced to start bussing a few tables, just to give him something to do. RJ had convinced him to work through his frustrations that way to spare his training equipment, which had taken a bit of a battering. Lily came over to the counter as Antonio came through with an order for one of her tables, placing it down on the counter.

"You know, it's a shame Jayden doesn't need the money. He's pretty good." Lily commented. "That table in the corner's been here over an hour, they're on their third round of milkshakes!"

Antonio looked over and saw the table Lily was meaning. It was surrounded by young women, who continued to watch Jayden manoeuvre between the tabled, collecting plates and orders. He just chuckled and shook his head.

"He kind of has that effect." Antonio remarked. "It's just as well I'm not the jealous type...or have much to worry about."

Just then, they heard a distinctive ringtone from Jayden's direction. Antonio had been something of an influence on him, and convinced him to change the ringtone on his Samuraizer. It now played "Disco Inferno". He made his way to the counter, putting down the latest stack of plates he had gathered from the tables and looked to the phone, seeing the number was Lauren's. He looked up to Lily.

"Sorry about this." He stated. "I know I shouldn't have it on, it's just..."

"Hey, I did the Spandex thing too remember? I know that during that time you never turn off your communicator." She interrupted him. "It was about three years before I was able to turn off my communicator in a cinema. Go into the back and take the call."

Jayden went into the kitchen, and opened up his Samuraizer, taking the call.

"Lauren, this isn't a good..." His words tailed off as she started to rush something out. He didn't quite catch what she was saying; she seemed to be in a little bit of a panic. "Wait, hold up...just take a breath and say that...WHAT?"

Antonio came through as he heard Jayden call out. He could be heard in the restaurant. He just looked to Antonio and Lily apologetically for disturbing their customers.

"How did...?" He started to ask, before sighing. "I'll be back tonight. In the meantime, go to Ji's place. Explain everything to him, maybe he can help you."

He folded away his Samuraizer, looking to Antonio.

"Look, I need to go home." He informed him. "Do you mind?"

"It's alright, whatever you need to do." Antonio assured him. "So what's the crisis?"

"Lauren's being sued." He answered, heading up to the loft to get changed. Both Antonio and Lily just looked at each other, completely confused.

"Did...did he really just say that?" Antonio asked. Lily just nodded.

"If you want to go..."

"No, Jayden can handle this." Antonio answered. "Besides, maybe a little family crisis might give them both a little perspective."

As he went back to work, Emily just shook her head.

"A lawsuit is a little crisis?" She remarked, before shrugging. "I guess none of us get to have normal lives after hanging up the helmet."

In Panorama City, Emily was in the hospital with her family, awaiting the results of the biopsy. Ji had managed to call someone with some pull with the hospital, getting her test put up in the priority list, so they only had to wait one night. Even still, it was quite a restless night. Mike, being her husband, at least as far as any of the doctors or nurses knew, being unwilling to check up on his story, was allowed to stay with her. He spent most of the night with her, talking when she needed to, or just sitting watching television when she didn't feel like it.

He had no idea what Emily was going through, but the whole thing terrified him in a way none of Xandred's monsters ever had, or ever could. Even the Lord of the Nighlock himself hadn't taken him to this place in his heart. At least when a Nighlock was standing in front of him, swinging a weapon, and bellowing in supernatural rage, he knew exactly what to do. Things were simple, straightforward. There was something he could do to affect the outcome of the battle, but right now Emily was facing something he could do nothing about.

As morning had come around, and each of them had only had maybe a couple of hours' sleep apiece, the rest of Emily's family had returned. It wasn't long before Dr Waller came in with a folder.

"How are you feeling this morning?" He asked Emily. She didn't answer; all she could do was look at the folder. The simple, unassuming, plain cardboard manila wallet tucked under his arm held her fate. He could see that everyone was just hanging back, waiting for someone to say it, but it was clear all they wanted was for him to tell them the news. Dr Waller just opened the folder, reading the results.

"Well, it's good news, the tests show that the growth is benign." He announced to a collective sigh of relief from the room. Mike held her tightly as the words washed over her. To Mike, it was like watching Xandred being defeated all over again. He didn't know much about medicine, but he knew enough to know that benign meant there was no cancer. Emily didn't say anything; she was just overwhelmed by the news. Dr Waller came over, taking her hand. "I understand that this is big news, it'll take a while, but we need to start preparations for the next procedure."

"The...the next procedure?" Martin stammered. "But...I thought you said..."

"The growth is benign, but it would still be best in the long run if we removed it." He continued. "Which does bring me back to our earlier conversation, that other issue we discussed? It may be time to give that some more thought."

"Mike, what I said..."

"Emily, I swear if you dare say it one more time, I'm seriously going to be unhappy." Mike told her. Serena just looked to Dr Waller in a way that suggested it was time for him to give them some privacy. He complied, giving them the space they needed, just as well, since it seemed that Emily and Mike were lost in their own conversation, and possibly about to reveal a lot more than they intended to.

"Emily, how many times, all I care about is you!" He stated flatly.

"You say that now, but..."

"Listen, I don't CARE if we can have kids or not!" Mike interrupted her. "Would I like it if we could, sure, but if we can't, that's fine with me too. I love YOU! I want to spend my life with YOU!"

"Until ten years from now, when we still can't have kids, and you know your chance to pass on your Symbol Power has passed." Emily sniffed. "Then you'll just find yourself wondering why you tied yourself to the useless..."

"Emily, you can't talk about yourself like that." Ava gasped, hearing Emily insulting herself. It had only been two years, but the two years that Emily had spent in the Shiba House had been one of the most invaluable experiences in her life. It was heartbreaking to see her regress.

"But I am mom; I won't be able to give Mike what he needs. His family will lose out because of me!" She rushed out. "It would be best for him if..."

"What if he doesn't have to miss out?" Serena said, interrupting them. Everyone in the room looked at her.

"Serena, what are you talking about?" Ava asked her.

"What if...what if I could do it?" Serena asked. Mike and Emily both looked at her, completely astounded. "No, not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter Mike!"

"Then what...?"

"The doctor suggested freezing some of your eggs right?" Serena asked. Emily just nodded. "Well, what about Surrogacy?"

"Surrogacy?" Mike asked.

"They'd still use Emily's eggs, and your...well...you get the idea." Serena explained. Having been with Terry for a few months now, she had started to pick up on some of the stuff he talked about when he told her about his medical studies. "They just use someone else to...you know...incubate."

"Serena..."

"It would still biologically be your kid; it would just be me that gives birth to it." Serena told them. "Well, what about it?"

"Serena, have you really thought this through?" Ava asked her.

"Emily, you are the most amazing little sister anyone could ever ask for." Serena told her sister. "What you did, taking my place, is something that no one could ever have expected of you. The number of times you've pulled me back, that you've done things I'll never be able to do is unbelievable. I owe you so much that I'll never be able to repay."

"I can't..."

"You aren't asking." Serena assured her. "I'm offering. If this is something I can do for you, the only thing I can do for you that even begins to repay what you mean to me, then I'm in."

Mike and Emily both launched forward, hugging Serena tightly. She had given them a valuable gift, she had given them hope. As she hugged them in return, Serena couldn't help noticing her mother and father in the corner of the room, looking conflicted. They were clearly happy Emily was alright, and no doubt proud of Serena for what she was willing to do for her baby sister. Unfortunately, she could also see a certain uneasy air about them. It was a huge thing she had offered to give them, a huge sacrifice. However, remembering all Emily had done for her, she couldn't think of any way she could refuse. It was the least she could do for the sister that had done so much for the world, and received so little in return.

Lauren had gone to the apartment Ji shared with Brenda, just as her brother had recommended. They had gone back to Brenda's apartment while they looked for somewhere more suitable. Terri was still only a couple of months old, so she didn't really need much room, but they really wanted somewhere more suitable for when she was starting to get to the age she would be on her feet and running around.

Ji had now ditched the wheelchair, against doctor's orders to the surprise of absolutely no one, but nerve damage from the injury he suffered at Master Xandred's hands had left him with a lot of difficulties. He needed a cane to walk, and he had difficulties with his right hand, but now that Brenda was intending to go back to work within the following few weeks, he was trying hard to do more to help out.

Lauren sat on the couch, fidgeting nervously under Ji's gaze as he just glared at her. When he had told her the story, he had simply replied quietly that they would talk once Terri had been put down for a nap. It was only natural that he didn't want to disturb his daughter with this drama. Lauren felt small, and a harsh, cold feeling running through her as he continued to look at her. It reminded her a lot of when she was a little girl, and her father had caught her picking on her baby brother. However, this felt so much worse. She knew that she had done wrong. She knew that what she had done was stupid, uncalled for, and against pretty much everything she had ever been taught. She could feel the shame coming from Ji, and could only imagine what her father would have thought if he had still been alive. More than anything, she was ashamed of herself.

Brenda came into the room, closing the door behind her. Lauren knew this was the part she was dreading. Now that Terri, her little sister was in bed, she had to face what Ji had to say.

"So, let me get this straight." Ji began, quietly so as not to disturb his baby. "Your brother leaves you alone for one week, and in that time you break into my liquor cabinet, steal my drink, get drunk, assault a perfect stranger, and get served with a lawsuit?"

Lauren just nodded wordlessly. It was a pretty damning list of offences against her. Just hearing it said aloud like that made her question herself, and who she was. She never was the kind of person to get into trouble. Over her years on her travels, she had only been disciplined by her attendants maybe a dozen times in her life. She had always done as she was told, stuck strictly to their teachings...the one time she was on her own though, with no guidance, she had broken almost every rule she had ever been taught.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" He asked her. Lauren couldn't say anything, there was nothing to say. She was as guilty as sin, and she knew it. "I asked for an explanation!"

"I was upset." Lauren told him. Ji just rolled his eyes.

"When I'm upset I swear at the bonsai." He told her. "I don't get paralytic and start a fight with the first stranger I meet!"

"I'm sorry, really I am!" Lauren protested as tears started to form in her eyes. "I messed up, I know I did, I just...I...I really didn't know what I was thinking."

"You mentioned this young man you've been seeing." Ji recalled. "What does he have to do with this?"

"He had nothing to do with it, I was the one responsible." Lauren whimpered, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "He wanted me to be more open, and because I was scared, I pushed him away, like I pushed away Jayden."

"Then what happened?" Ji asked her. Lauren just looked to him.

"I went out to the bar to meet Serena. I wanted to talk." Lauren informed him. "When I saw Jeremy with another girl, I wanted to apologise to him, but she started saying..."

"Well?" Ji asked as her words tailed off. Lauren just sighed.

"Because she'd heard I don't work or go to school or anything, she started saying all kinds of stuff about me being a rich kid." She told him. "She started saying I was living off dad's money and that I'd just waited on my inheritance and...I just lost it."

"Well, that may explain your actions, but it does not excuse them." Ji told her directly. "Lauren, I am very disappointed in you. More than that, if John were still alive, I know he would be too."

"Ji, you might want to back it up a little." Brenda whispered in his ear as Lauren buried her face in her hands and wept. She knew he was right, her dad would have been ashamed, but right now she was beating herself up more than anyone else possibly could.

Seeing her in tears, Ji couldn't help remembering her as a little girl, and he did indeed let up on her. Gesturing to her to come to him, he hugged her warmly, letting her weep into his shoulder for a while. He didn't mean to be so hard on her, he just needed her to realise that things were different here than they were in the homes she had been in up until now. She was no longer the 'chosen one'. She was just an ordinary person, who had the same rights, responsibilities and liabilities as anyone else, which meant that now; she had to face the consequences of her actions. Releasing her, Ji pulled out his Samuraizer.

"I'm going to make a call to a friend; he's a lawyer in the city." Ji informed her. "I'm not promising anything, but we'll see how much of this damage we can repair."


	9. Legal Advice

Jayden arrived in Ji and Brenda's apartment late at night. The journey from Ocean Bluff took a few hours, so even taking a somewhat relaxed approach to speed limits, thankful that Symbol Power could have a remarkable effect on speed cameras, it was still very late. Although he had a key, out of respect for their privacy he would still usually knock. Of course since it was close to midnight, and they knew Terri would be asleep, Ji had told Jayden just to let himself in.

Getting into the apartment, he saw Lauren curled up on the couch, sleeping. Ji was in the living room, watching over her when Jayden arrived. He had fixed up the couch as a makeshift bed for her. He had called a lawyer, and arranged an appointment for her for the following morning to discuss the issue of the lawsuit. Jayden looked to Ji as he hobbled over, using his cane to help carry his weight.

"You should still be using the chair." Jayden told him, reiterating the same thing he had been saying to Ji for almost a fortnight. Ji just sighed. "So, how is she?"

"She's upset, and a little confused." Ji replied. "Her sensei may have taught her how to defend herself against physical attack well, but I don't think any of them spent much time explaining legal action."

"I'll talk to her in the morning." Jayden answered. "I'll take the easy chair."

Ji made his way back to the bedroom, hoping to get some sleep before Terri demanded her feed in a couple of hours. Jayden took a blanket from the closet, and laid down to rest on the chair. He wanted to talk to Lauren, to begin to understand what was going on, but for now, he just wanted to let her rest. He could talk to her in the morning.

Early in the morning, over in Rio, Mia got up to head to the bathroom, experiencing the first joys of morning sickness. Kevin appeared in the door behind her, and looked down at her sympathetically as she hugged the bowl.

"Now that brings back memories." She grumbled as she took some toilet paper, wiping off her mouth. Kevin just offered her a hand to get up, holding her gently.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her.

"I've felt better." She admitted as they headed back through to her room. "This place is beautiful and all that kind of thing, but I'm really looking forward to getting home."

"I am too." Kevin replied with a smile. "It's not the kind of news I want to give over Skype. I'm really looking forward to telling mom and dad."

"I really want mom and dad too." Mia told him. Kevin just sighed deeply as he had a thought. He was doing everything he could for Mia. As much as they loved Rio, all he could think of was her happiness. He picked up the phone.

"I could call the airline; see if we can get an earlier flight." He suggested.

"Kevin, we're meant to be here another week." Mia reminded him. "If we go home now, we won't get that money back."

"I don't care." Kevin assured her. "Sure, I love it here, but if you want to be with your parents, that's what I want for you too."

"I'm just panicking. You know I've done that before." Mia answered. "It would be great if I could get some time with mom and dad, but there's no point in messing this up. When are we going to be out here again?"

"All going well, four years' time." Kevin answered. Mia just smiled as she got back under the covers. "I'm not going to pressure you either way. It's your decision."

"It's our honeymoon." Mia replied, huddling into his arms. "The rest can wait."

As Kevin held her, kissing the top of her head gently, she just smiled.

"You know, I'm looking forward to telling the guys." Kevin told her. "Can you imagine the look on their faces when they find out we're having a family?" Mia just nodded in agreement. She's imagined that moment too, and it was one of the things she really was looking forward to.

"You know who I'm really looking forward to telling?" Mia asked him. "Emily. She's so into all that stuff, she's going to flip out when she finds out."

Back in Panorama City, early that morning, Emily was sitting with Mike and her family, waiting for the doctors to come to begin her procedure. They had already established one thing; they now knew that the growth was not malignant. It was still for the best to remove it, but they knew that once they had, she would need no further treatment, she would only need to have check-ups for a couple of years to make sure it remained that way.

As Dr Waller came in, he looked at her and smiled.

"Alright Emily, we're ready for you now." He told her. "It'll be a couple of hours, but all going well, everything should be all done and dusted by lunch time."

Mike held her tightly to calm her. They had already spoken with Dr Waller about having some of her eggs frozen. It was something that still troubled Emily, but for now, the most immediate worry was getting her through this procedure. She knew that to limit the amount of time she was under; they were going to harvest the eggs while she was already under.

"The anaesthesiologist should be along shortly." He told her. "In the meantime, I'll give you all some privacy."

He put a hand on Emily's shoulder, before turning and leaving the room.

"We'll be waiting sweetheart." Martin assured her. "Come on Ava, Serena; let's give them a little time."

In another part of the city, Lauren sat in a lawyer's office, fidgeting uncomfortably. Brenda had lent her one of her suits, knowing Lauren didn't own anything like that herself. It was very different from what she normally wore, but that wasn't the only reason for her discomfort.

The man sitting in front of her, Ji's lawyer friend, was not what she was expecting at all. When she heard that someone was going to be fighting her case for her, she knew that it wasn't a fight like she was used to. She was no dumb bruiser, one of the many arts a lot of Samurai practiced was debate. Among friends, it was common to settle issues with reasoned arguments, thrashing out subtle dialectic duels. There were many nights some of her sensei had tried to teach her this art, to show her how to lead opponents into traps, and trip them over their own words, or use evidence and scripture to defeat an opponent's argument. From what Ji had explained, it seemed that legal battles were much the same.

The man sitting before her was bald, with a goatee style beard and moustache. He had a slim, unimpressive build hidden beneath his black designer suit. He perused the documents before him as Lauren and Jayden sat, waiting for him to say something.

"So?" Lauren asked. "Can you get me out of this?"

"Mr Quinn...?"

"Well, I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that." He interrupted Jayden, looking up and taking off his wire-rimmed glasses. "I'm afraid you've managed to really back yourself into a corner legally speaking."

"How bad is it?" Jayden asked him. Mr Quinn just slid the folder over to them. He had already contacted Sophie's legal office to have them fax over details of the case.

"There were a few witnesses to the actual incident, and I'm afraid all of them maintain that she never touched you. You threw the first attack." He told her. Lauren just nodded, feeling the shame washing over her yet again.

"That's correct." She answered. "She said some things that got to me, but I know that's no excuse."

"Indeed it isn't." He agreed. "There are then witness reports of another incident, a meeting you had with her on the campus of Panorama University. It claims that you approached her..."

"I went to apologise!" Lauren rushed out. "I know I didn't have any right to attack her, so I went to apologise. That's what I was always taught..."

"Well, legally speaking it can be seen another way." Mr Quinn interrupted her with a sigh. "You admitted that you attacked her, and it says that in your own words, you acknowledged you had no right to do so...that's pretty much an admission of guilt from a legal standpoint."

Lauren was about to say something, but she stopped as she considered what he said. It did sound exactly like that if it was said that way. She did admit to attacking Sophie.

"What doesn't help matters is that we have witnesses who all maintain her version of events." Mr Quinn informed her.

"So...how bad is it?" Lauren asked him. He just leant back in his chair, lacing his fingers as he did so.

"I'd say the case is pretty open and shut." He told her. "It's more a case of damage limitation than anything else. If you want my professional advice, I'd suggest pursuing an out-of-court settlement."

"You mean, just give up?" Lauren asked him.

"Well, the money doesn't worry us too much." Jayden admitted. "I guess we'd rather not go to court if we don't have to. At least we won't be airing our issues in public." Mr Quinn just shrugged.

"Sophie's claiming that due to her wrist injury, she had to miss three days of work, so that's loss of earnings." He explained. "She fortunately didn't injure herself too badly, so if we offer to cover her medical expenses as well, and add a little value to sweeten the pot, then we may just get her to agree to drop the other issue..."

"Wait, other issue?" Jayden asked. "What other issue?"

"Well, it seems that as part of the lawsuit, she's filing a restraining order against Lauren." He told them.

"Well, I think staying away from her would be for the best anyway." Lauren admitted. Mr Quinn handed her the proposal for the restraining order to let Lauren read it.

"I understand that you were on the university campus because you were thinking of attending Panorama University?" He asked her. "Well, the nature of the restraining order would make that impossible. Sophie is claiming that she worries for her safety, so she wants to block you from approaching within 50 feet of her place of residence, her place of work, and the university."

"So Lauren wouldn't be able to attend Panorama University?" Jayden asked. He looked to Lauren. "It'd mean you couldn't see Jeremy there, but there are other schools..."

"No...WAY!" Lauren shrieked. "Jayden, check out this restraining order!"

Jayden took the document from her and started to read it. Two of the addresses were known to him, one was Panorama University, the second was...

"The coffee shop?" Jayden asked, looking at Lauren. "Did you know she worked there?"

"I...guess I didn't really notice." Lauren admitted. "I really wasn't concentrating on much when I went there."

"You were too busy staring at Jeremy you mean." Jayden teased her. "So, this other address is her apartment..."

"Jayden, that's the PU halls of residence." She told him. "It's the same block Jeremy stays in."

"So..."

"If she gets this restraining order, I won't be able to see him at his apartment, the coffee shop or the university!" Lauren shrieked. "If she gets this restraining order, she'll pretty much stop me from seeing Jeremy!"

"Can she do that?" Jayden asked Mr Quinn. The lawyer just closed over the folder and looked to them both seriously.

"Like I said, maybe if we appeal to her, convince her she's in no danger, then we can get her to drop the restraining order." He answered. "In the meantime, Lauren, I know you meant well, but under no circumstances go anywhere near Sophie. Even if all you want is to talk, she could try to use it against you."

"So, you'll help me?" She asked. He just picked up his phone and started to dial.

"I'll do what I can." He told them. Jayden could see that Lauren was upset, and put an arm around her. No one knew more how much she had messed up than she did, but even if he had his issues with her relationship with Jeremy, he didn't want to see it taken away from her like that. He did make her happy, something he had to admit. Still the one thing he was grateful for was that this crisis had given him one thing. When she needed someone, when she needed help, he was the one she called.

In Panorama Central Hospital, Emily started to come around, finding Mike sitting by her side. She managed to force a smile as she saw him.

"Hey." She murmured.

"Hey there." Mike replied, holding her hand gently. "Dr Waller said he'd be along in a little while to see how you feel."

"So, the surgery?" She asked him. He just nodded.

"According to Dr Waller, everything went well." Mike informed her. "He wants to keep you in for another couple of days to recover, but he seemed happy with the results."

"Where are...?"

"Your parents and Serena will be here in a little while." Mike informed her. "Dad said he'd be along later today to check on you."

"What about the farm?" Emily asked him. Mike just smiled.

"Well, that's the best part." Mike informed her. "It seems you have a lot of fans in town. According to Matthew, when people heard you were sick, they just started showing up to do some jobs around the place. He said that the place is looking great."

"People came to..."

"Like I said, it seems you have a lot of fans in town." Mike reiterated.

"How did they hear...?"

"Emily, you were the one that told me, everyone knows everything out there." Mike assured her, beginning to stroke her hair. "By the time we get to go home, the farm should only have a few jobs left to get ready for sowing. Just...try to relax."

As she lay back waiting for Dr Waller to return, Mike just sat silently with her, unable to leave her side. In time, they could worry about the future, for now all he cared about was that she was still healthy. Anything else, they could figure out together.

In the coffee shop, Jeremy was trying to read his book, but found that he couldn't concentrate on it. The morning shift was the best one for giving him time to read. Ordinarily, after the early rush when people stopped off for their morning kick-start, things got very quiet, giving him time to prepare for afternoon lessons.

He had only seen Lauren a couple of days ago, but he was starting to miss her. Recently, she had been coming around almost every day. She had developed something of an addiction to early-morning coffee, and usually stopped off on her morning jog, but now it was almost noon, and she still hadn't shown up.

"Something on your mind Jeremy?" Sophie asked, cleaning down some tables as she saw him becoming a little restless.

"I haven't seen Lauren in a couple of days." He informed her. Sophie just shrugged.

"Maybe she's finally found something to do with her days." She answered.

"Sophie, why can't you just give her a break?" Jeremy asked her. "I know you got off on the wrong foot, but she's a really nice person. You'd like her if you gave her a chance."

"Yeah, because that's happening." Sophie replied sarcastically. "She actually wants to go to Panorama University?"

"I guess she might." He answered with a shrug. "We were going to discuss it the other day, but she called and said she had something else to worry about."

"What a surprise, the blonde princess has to think about something other than someone else." Sophie snorted. Jeremy just gave her a warning glare.

"Sophie, we're friends, but she's important to me." He told her as he pulled out his cell phone. "Just...try to at least be civil about her."

"But she..."

"She apologised." Jeremy reminded her. "I can assure you, she feels terrible about all of this."

"Whatever." She murmured. Jeremy dialled his phone, and smiled as Lauren picked up.

"Hey there, I haven't seen you in a while." He told her. "If you come down here, there's a cappuccino and a bear claw with your..."

His words tailed off and his expression changed.

"What do you mean you can't?" He asked her. "What?"

Sophie got a satisfied little smirk on her face as she heard him on the phone. Clearly he was only now finding out about what she had done. He looked over at Sophie and gave her a disbelieving look.

"I'll meet you at the house tonight." He told her. "Do you want me to bring anything?"

He continued to glare at Sophie as he listened to Lauren's answer.

"Alright, I'll see you tonight." He told her. He hung up, and started tapping his foot impatiently.

"Problem?" Sophie asked him.

"You know damn fine there is!" Jeremy snapped. "You're seriously going to sue my girlfriend?"

"Well, I do still have the doctor's bill to pay." She reminded him. "Not to mention I missed some shifts."

"You slapped a restraining order on her?" He continued. "I...I can't believe you did that!"

"Well, maybe your girlfriend should think twice before she starts throwing people around the room." Sophie protested. "I have a hard enough time paying my bills without some privileged..."

"Sophie, that's enough!" He snapped at her. "You and I live in the same building. We work here together, and we go to the same school. This restraining order pretty much makes it almost impossible for us to see each other!"

"Well, she should have thought about that!" Sophie told him. "I think I have a right to feel safe. She's already hurt me once, how do I know she won't do it again?"

"Stop this Sophie." Jeremy told her. "We're friends. I'm asking you to stop this as a friend."

"I know you're a friend, but she deserves to be punished for this." Sophie told him, folding her arms defiantly over her chest. Jeremy just shook his head and got his coat.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"We need more beans." He told her, taking some petty cash and signing for it.

"But we got some only..."

"I just need to be...not here right now." Jeremy answered. "I'll be back before the end of the shift."

With that, he left, leaving Sophie alone in the shop. She hated the fact that Jeremy was angry with her, but she hoped that it would pass. In the meantime, she was only concerned with making Lauren pay.


	10. Settling a Dispute

It was Friday by the time Lauren heard from Mr Quinn again, telling her to come to his office for a meeting he had arranged with Sophie's lawyer. He had spent some time doing research, before arranging a meeting in order to try and come to an arrangement to keep the settlement out of court.

Lauren didn't especially care about the money; one of the fringe benefits of being the head of the Shiba clan was the fact that money was pretty much an issue. Mr Quinn had already explained that the basis for any lawsuit payout was generally based on the costs incurred by the plaintiff. In Sophie's case, it would be the cost of her medical bills, and the money she lost being unable to go to work while her wrist was injured. The additional sum over and above was generally viewed as a combination of recompense for inconvenience, hurt feelings, pain, and of course, a punishment for the one on the receiving end of the lawsuit.

Lauren was more than happy to pay out to make this whole mess go away. She had already accepted that what she did was wrong, and genuinely wanted to square things up with Sophie to make sure she wasn't left out of pocket as a result of her behaviour. The thing that she did want though, was to get her to drop the restraining order. As a result of a piece of paper, she would be unable to go to Panorama University, the Halls of Residence, or the coffee house Sophie worked at. If she set foot within fifty feet of any of those locations for the duration of the restraining order, Sophie would be able to have her arrested.

Lauren understood why Sophie didn't want her around, but she went to the same university as Jeremy. She lived in the same Halls of Residence building, and she worked in the same coffee shop. It had occurred to Lauren that it might be more than a little bit of a coincidence, but enforcing the restraining order meant that she had effectively banned Lauren from seeing Jeremy for well over half of his average week.

Lauren and Jayden were sitting in a legal office, not far from the university. It was nowhere near as impressive as Mr Quinn's offices, but since it seemed likely Sophie wasn't able to afford legal representation in the same league as Lauren, it was probably the only one she could afford. Mr Quinn sat, sipping a coffee. Lauren had politely declined to get one; it just reminded her of Jeremy. A little while later, Sophie walked in with her attorney, a guy that looked like he could only have been out of college a couple of years. He placed his folder on the desk and looked to the three people on the other side of the desk as they sat down.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Mr Quinn began, sliding over a piece of paper. "We looked at the settlement your client was asking for. We checked your figures the bill for the medical expenses, and in the spirit of resolving this all peacefully, and without the need for a courtroom, we came up with a counter offer."

He slid the paper across the desk to Sophie's lawyer, allowing him to view it. His eyes grew wider, and he showed the paper to Sophie, who furrowed her brows.

"I think you'll find it more than fair." Mr Quinn stated.

"This...this offer is HIGHER than we asked for." Sophie stated.

"My client is genuinely remorseful for her actions, and is more than happy to cover your expenses to make this right." Mr Quinn stated. "She has also stated that she holds no ill will towards your client, and presents no danger to her safety. We are willing to give you that offer and settle out of court, in exchange for your client dropping the restraining order."

"Well, this is a very generous..."

"No." Sophie stated flatly, shoving the paper away and crossing her arms defiantly. Lauren just looked to Mr Quinn, a little astounded. Their offer was indeed significantly higher than the original settlement, something Lauren had insisted on as a way of trying to resolve the issue quickly.

"Sophie, this offer..."

"This is just the kind of thing I should have expected from someone like you!" Sophie snapped at Lauren. "You have money, so you think that you can just go through life acting how you want and buy your way through life? Well, you can take that silver spoon from your mouth and shove it straight..."

"Sophie, please." Her lawyer cut her off. "This offer...we're not likely to get anything better."

"She attacked me!" Sophie reiterated. "I want to feel safe..."

"You are safe; it isn't going to happen again!" Lauren interjected. "Please, I know I did the wrong thing, and I'm willing to pay the price, but Jeremy..."

"No deal!" Sophie reiterated. Her lawyer leaned in closer to talk to her.

"Sophie, this is stupid." He whispered to her. "This settlement will not only cover your expenses, it'll pay your tuition for the rest of the year. Lauren looked to Mr Quinn.

"Would it be possible to speak to Sophie alone?" She asked. Mr Quinn didn't look convinced. "I promise to behave; there are cameras in this room anyway. I'd have to be pretty brain dead to do anything."

"I'd recommend..."

"Fine." Sophie stated, cutting off her lawyer. "Let's hear what she has to say."

Jayden, Mr Quinn and Sophie's lawyer all left the room, leaving Lauren and Sophie alone. Lauren just took a deep breath.

"Jeremy came over last night. We talked a lot about this." Lauren told her.

"Well, I guess you better get used to it." Sophie answered. "It's not like you'll be coming to the halls...unless you want to spend the night in a cell."

"He told me how you two used to date." Lauren continued. "He also told me how after it ended, he made a big effort to stay friends with you."

"Yeah, we're friends." Sophie said with a shrug. "It's not my fault he sucks at picking girlfriends."

"He told me what happened at the coffee shop." Lauren continued. "He was really upset about all this."

"Well, you only have yourself to blame." Sophie snorted. Lauren just sighed.

"Sophie, I really do regret what I've done, but the most important thing to me in all this is Jeremy." She answered. "If it wasn't for him, I'd be more than happy to go to another school, and find somewhere else to get coffee."

"Well, you opened your chequebook so fast, tried to buy your way out of this so easily, it's pretty clear that doesn't matter to you. It's not like you'll miss that money." She stated bitterly. "Maybe this is something that will hurt you."

"So, in order to hurt me, you're willing to hurt Jeremy?" Lauren asked her. "You know that when he's not at the University, he's at the coffee shop, or he's studying. He maybe has a few free hours a week."

"But you..."

"Jeremy was really upset about this. He told me that he wasn't sure how you'd be able to remain friends." Lauren continued. "I told him he had to try. I don't want him to lose you as a friend."

"Well...if he values you more than me..."

"Wait, I just realised, that's what this has been about all along isn't it?" Lauren asked her. "You couldn't care less about me. You just want me to stay away from Jeremy."

Sophie just stared at her, unable to answer. Lauren just shook her head.

"Look, this relationship stuff is pretty new to me. Jeremy's my first boyfriend, but I think I've learned one thing." She continued. "It's not something you can force. Even if I'm not in the picture, do you think that really means he'll go back to you?"

"He never should have..."

"I really want him to keep you as a friend." Lauren told her honestly. "I don't blame you for any of this, but think about it. If you do this, if he does end up having to stop seeing me, how do you really think he'll feel?"

Sophie just looked away and wiped away a tear. It had been quite a while; she and Jeremy had broken up months before he met Lauren.

"I never should have lost him." Sophie murmured. "We were good together, I really loved him. I really wanted to be with him, but any time he was with other girls I just...I just couldn't help myself. I tried to drive everyone away from him. I was so paranoid someone was going to take him away that in the end, he told me he couldn't take my jealousy anymore. I drove him away."

"I don't know what will happen in the future. I'd like to think I'll be with him in the future, but I don't know what's going to happen." Lauren assured her. "All I know is, he cares for me a lot. For your sake, if you care for him half as much as you say you do, drop the restraining order. If you don't, then I might not be able to see him, but I think we both know..."

"He'd never forgive me." Sophie concluded, seeing Lauren's reason. She dried her eyes. "I'd lose him for good."

"I swear, I will never raise a hand to you again." Lauren told her. "We don't have to be friends. But we can at least be civil to each other. I think we both can manage that."

"Jeremy was trying to convince me that I misjudged you." Sophie informed her. "Maybe I have. You're still willing to try and reason with me, even after all this?"

"I've been through some difficult stuff too." Lauren assured her. "I know how much a simple act of kindness can mean."

"Bring the others back in." She told her. Lauren went to the door, and gestured everyone back inside. As they sat down, Sophie took a deep breath.

"I'll accept the offer." She told them. "Where do I sign?"

Mr Quinn just looked at Lauren, not certain as to what she had said. He would generally advise clients against talking directly with their plaintiff, especially when the previous contact had sparked off the lawsuit in the first place. Lauren just nodded at which he slid the document to Sophie.

"So, you sign this, and there'll be no court case." He reminded Sophie. "It's a clause in the contract."

"I think we've all wasted enough time over this." Sophie answered, quickly scribbling a signature on the document. "Alright, is that it?"

"Pretty much." Her lawyer answered, taking the document. "I'll get a copy to you this afternoon."

As Lauren and Jayden left with Mr Quinn, Jayden held his sister.

"So, how did you do it?" He asked her. Lauren just smiled.

"I do like to keep some secrets." She told him. "So...um...thanks for coming home."

"Any time sis." Jayden answered. "Any time."


	11. The Chambers Return

Mia and Kevin had mixed feelings as they came towards the end of their time in Rio. A month had given them quite a bit of time to fall completely in love with the city, and while they knew the honeymoon period couldn't last forever, and they would have to go back to their lives in Panorama City, they were still sorry to see it finally come to an end. Mia had assured Kevin that she had every faith that if he trained hard, he would be coming back in 2016, a thought which cheered them up a little.

However there was some excitement as they started packing their bags too. They had lives to go back to which they were eagerly looking forward to. Baron had talked to Kevin before about the idea of retirement, and his plan was that while he took care of his investments, over the next couple of years, Kevin would be employed as an assistant coach, with a view to him taking over in a couple of years. Kevin knew he had a lot to learn, and that his coaching would take a lot of his time, but he had always intended to end up coaching once his competing days were over. He had simply...stepped up the time scale a little, knowing that he needed some income while he trained to pay the bills. Working in the pool seemed the natural way to maximise the time he could spend doing both.

Mia had already sent an e-mail to the day-care centre to tell them that she was able to return to work there. She had, of course, had to tell them about her pregnancy. It was only fair that they knew she would only be able to work for a few months before she went on maternity leave. It turned out they were so happy to hear she could return to them, that they had accepted the fact she would only be there a few months. Mia loved the idea of returning to the kids, and getting some pointers from the other moms at the group for when her own child was born, yet another reason she was looking forward to going home.

So far, she had only told Terry about the pregnancy, and he had been sworn to silence. She needed to confirm with him that the symptoms she was feeling were indeed, as she suspected, another pregnancy, but she wanted to be able to tell her friends in person. It had meant that for almost two weeks, Kevin and Mia had enjoyed the adventure of having the news all to themselves.

Kevin finished his third or fourth sweep of the suite. One of his slightly wearing habits that came as a result of his slightly anal nature was that he was always paranoid about leaving something behind. Mia had learned to accept his little eccentricities as part of the man she loved, and chose instead to see the positive side of things. In all the times they had travelled, she couldn't remember Kevin ever losing anything or leaving anything behind.

"Well, that's the last of it." Kevin assured her, closing his suitcase. Mia did the same, closing the latch. He wrapped his arm around her. "I guess all that's left is to check out."

"I guess so." Mia answered, emptying out her wallet of all her small bills and change, writing a note for the housekeeping staff. They had some money to change back into dollars when they got home, but there were certain denominations that a lot of places simply wouldn't exchange, at least not in small amounts. It was much better to leave it behind to thank the housekeeping staff for their excellent work. Mia had picked up a little Portuguese, and just hoped that the staff would get the gist of what she was trying to write. Kevin picked up the phone and dialled reception.

"Hi, this is Kevin and Mia Chambers, we'll be checking out in a few minutes." He instructed them. "Could you prepare the bill and order us an airport shuttle?"

"I ordered the shuttle last night." Mia informed him. He just smiled.

"Never mind the shuttle, my wife's a few steps ahead of me." He chipped in over the phone. "We'll be down shortly."

"Would you like a bell hop to come and collect your bags?" The receptionist asked him.

"That would be nice." He told her. "Thank you."

As he hung up the phone, he looked back to Mia and smiled.

"Someone's coming to collect our bags." He told her. "We'll be heading to the airport soon."

"You know, as much as I love it here, I can't wait to go home." Mia told him with a bright smile. "I can't wait to see everyone again."

"Yeah, because we both know that's not what you're really excited about." He answered as he held her tightly. "So, are we going to tell everyone together, or just see people when we see them?"

"Well, it's been a month since we've seen everyone." Mia reminded him. "I'd kind of like to see everyone together."

"I guess it would save a little time." Kevin replied. A moment later, the elevator door opened, and a bell hop came in with a cart. Kevin handed him a tip, before heading for the elevator to load up the bags. Their honeymoon may have been coming to an end, but he couldn't be disappointed. In a matter of hours, he would be home among his friends, ready to start his new life.

Back in the States, in Panorama Central Hospital, Emily was sitting on her bed, fully clothed. She had been in the hospital now for several days, and was getting more than a little anxious about returning home. Dr Waller had assured her that her recovery was progressing well, and that she was ready to go home.

Mike came in, finding her packing the last of her things.

"Dr Waller said he's ready for us." He told her. Emily just nodded in understanding, going with Mike to his office. When they got there, Serena was waiting. Emily took a seat in the office, while Dr Waller had a look at her reports.

"I'm glad to see you up and about." He commented. "Are you absolutely sure that you are happy for me to discuss your case with your sister present?"

"She's going to have to hear it sooner or later." Emily sighed. She was feeling a lot better, and she had every confidence that Dr Waller was right when he said that there was no further risk to her health. There was, however, one more thing that she was worried about. It was the prognosis for the long-term effects he had warned her about. She took Mike's hand in her own, and waited for what he had to say.

"Your recovery has been impressive, and all your tests have come back showing nothing to worry about." Dr Waller began. "I'd still advise taking it easy for a while, your body has been through quite a bit, but I see no reason why you won't make a full recovery. You should be back on your feet in no time."

"Um...Dr Waller, can you tell me...?" Emily started to say. "You did mention..."

"I thought this might come up." He conceded. "Unfortunately, there isn't much I can tell you. The surgery did leave some scar tissue. We took some samples as you agreed, but with the scar tissue, I would say that your chances of conceiving naturally have been significantly reduced."

"Reduced?" Emily asked him. "What does that mean?"

"I can't say for certain, but in my professional opinion, it would be best to prepare yourself for the fact you will probably never conceive naturally." He said sympathetically. Mike just held her closely. "I think it would be best for you to consider alternatives."

"We already have." Serena chipped in as she heard Dr Waller say this. "I've already agreed that if the worst happened, I would act as a surrogate."

"This is a pretty huge decision." Dr Waller warned her. "It's not something that should be taken lightly. Surrogacy is still a huge minefield. It's an emotional issue, and there are a lot of things to consider..."

"There's nothing to think about." Serena interrupted him abruptly. Ever since hearing about the potential difficulties Emily and Mike faced, she had agreed on the spot to help them however she could. She owed Emily so much for taking her place. It was an amazing sacrifice that she had made, one that may have at least in part have contributed to their current troubles. She always regretted the fact that there was nothing she could do to repay Emily. Now that there was, she couldn't see any way she could refuse. She would do anything for Emily. "I want to do this."

"Serena..."

"Mike, its fine. I know what I'm doing." Serena continued. She looked back to Dr Waller. "Um...so, what's involved? What do I have to do?"

"Well, the procedure itself is not guaranteed, but it shouldn't take too long." He told her. "What I would like to make you aware of though is that the eggs we harvested from Emily are only viable for a finite time. We could keep them for a while, but in all honesty, the sooner we use them, the more likely the process will be successful."

Back in Rio, Kevin and Mia had arrived at the departure lounge, waiting for their flight to start boarding.

Kevin checked the board, while Mia went to a coffee stand to get them some coffee and sandwiches while they waited for their flight. The board was large, and incredibly frustrating to read, but eventually he found their flight.

"It looks the plane's on schedule." He told his wife. "Hmm...tuna melt?"

"When I saw they did Panini's, I thought you'd like that." Mia told him, handing him his tuna melt and his coffee, finding a seat nearby. "By the time we've finished with this, we shouldn't have long to wait."

"I swear, the worst part about air travel is all the waiting." Kevin answered, taking a bite. "It almost makes me wish we could just...you know...cheat a little on the abusing Symbol Power thing."

"Now, that's hardly going to be a good example to set for the baby now is it?" Mia teased him. "Besides, we're flying in business class, so at least it won't be too cramped."

"I just hope there's a decent movie on." Kevin told her. "That one we watched on the way out here was just awful."

"Kevin it's not like we'll be spending too long in the air." She reminded him. "Besides, just think. Soon, we'll be home, and you can carry me across the threshold for real."

"I can't wait for that." Kevin answered. "Hmm...that reminds me, maybe I should call dad, see about arranging someone to meet us at the airport."

"You think of everything." Mia responded. "I knew I made the right decision with you."

Back in the States, in Panorama City, Lauren was spending the day with Ji, Kate, Terry and Jayden. Having now resolved the situation with Sophie, she had decided to spend the day with her family to repay them for their support. Jeremy was only too happy to give him their space.

Lauren was standing by the grill, cooking up food while Ji took his daughter around the grounds of the Shiba House, showing her all the plants that grew there. Jayden was standing with her, playing with a spatula.

"Are you sure you don't want a hand?" He asked her. Lauren just shook her head.

"I said I'd cook to repay you for all you did, and I meant it." She told him. "Though I have to admit, it is giving me a greater appreciation for how talented Antonio is. He makes all this look so easy."

"Yeah, he is good like that." Jayden agreed. "I'm really glad he's coming home soon."

"I really am glad to see you with someone that makes you so happy." She told him. "When he gets back, I guess he and Baron will be looking for locations for his restaurant."

"Yeah, no doubt that'll take up a lot of his time." Jayden answered. "I guess while he's doing that, I can get started on our campaign."

"Oh, right, that political thing." Lauren recalled, remembering Jayden's new ambition. He'd never really been politically minded before, but he was determined to get involved in the campaign to legalise same gender marriage in his home state. Although there were places that would allow him and Antonio to get married, he had always maintained that it wasn't right that they couldn't do so in their own home. They had both vowed that they would marry once they were legally able to do so in California. "Well, hopefully you still have time for your big sister, even if she can be a little dense."

"I'm sorry?" Jayden asked. Lauren just looked at him a little nervously.

"When I needed you, you were there for me." She told him. "You don't know how much that means to me. I've been so used to being on my own, that it was great to have someone willing to stand by me. Well, the thing is, throughout all this, I've kind of been thinking about the way I've been acting...and I think I've taken you for granted."

"Lauren..."

"Jayden, I need to say this." She interrupted him. "I know I've been spending a lot of time with Jeremy. I guess I was a little overwhelmed by everything, I haven't got any idea what I'm doing...I suppose I just got swept up in it all."

"I guess I understand that." Jayden told her. "I know you want a life for yourself Lauren, I just want to be a part of it."

"Well, I promise from now on to remember what's important." Lauren answered. "I guess I can also try and cool it with Jeremy a little around the house."

"That would be appreciated." Jayden agreed. "I guess I can try to make a bit of an effort with Jeremy too."

"I'd really like that." She told him, hugging her brother tightly. Jayden just looked to the grill as they parted.

"I think the first round of burgers are ready." He told her. Lauren just nodded and started to lift them.

"Alright Ji, Kate, the food's ready." She called out. "Come and get it while it's hot."


	12. Chambers' Big News

Mia groaned as the sound cut out on her head phones. The in-flight movie was just getting to the good bit, right near the end, where the dorky but adorable and kind romantic lead ran into the female lead's wedding to declare his undying love for her and try to convince her to leave the other guy, the one that was amazingly good looking, but had been shown to be a cruel, brutish and horrible person only interested in being married to her because of her looks.

"Son of a...gun!" Mia cut herself off, quickly correcting herself as she was about to swear. The announcement came over the head phones, and the in-cabin speakers that the plane was on final approach. "Why do they always start the silly movie so late in the flight that they cut of the end?"

"Silly?" Kevin asked, opening his eyes. He had long since lost interest in the movie, and fallen asleep. He was only just starting to come to when he heard Mia's outburst. "Son of a gun?"

"Kevin, I have to mind what I'm saying." Mia told him. Kevin just laughed.

"You are aware the baby won't even have ears yet right?" He asked. "It won't be able to hear anything for months yet."

"Well, maybe it's a good idea to get into good habits now." She muttered. "Besides, you're not meant to stress out your pregnant wife. I'm upset enough they cut off the end of the movie."

"Well, I'll give you the abridged version." Kevin teased her. "The dorky guy declares his love and begs her to come with him, the big mean guy tells him where to go, but in doing so does something that makes the girl realise that everyone else was right about him all along and he's a jerk, and she ends up running off with the dorky guy to live happily ever after, roll the credits."

"You've seen this?" She asked him.

"No, I've just sat through so much of your collection, I've come to realise that's what happens in pretty much ninety per cent of all the romance movies ever made." He continued. Mia just hit him with her pillow.

"It's romantic." She stated.

"What, it's romantic to make the woman look like a clueless idiot that's suckered into marrying Attila the Hun?" He asked her. "Only to immediately throw herself into the arms of some other guy just because he's nice to her?"

"You know, you can do that with any concept." Mia answered as they fastened their seatbelts. "Let's face it, your Martial Arts movies are rarely literary masterpieces. The only thing I've learned from them is if you're related to, or know the lead character in any way, your life expectancy is non-existent, and you tend to die in the first ten minutes."

"Well, if I promise to get you that movie on DVD, would you be happy?" Kevin asked her. She just smiled.

"No, it's alright. I did see most of it." She answered as she folded up her tray and taking her headphones off, packing them away in the back of the seat in front of her. "So, I guess we'll be home pretty soon."

"So, are you tired?" He asked her. "I was just wondering...do you want to go straight to the apartment? Or do you feel up to going to see the others?"

"Well, I really don't feel like cooking." Mia said with a shrug. "Maybe we could encourage the others to treat us to a takeout night at the Shiba House."

"It has been a long time since we've seen them all." Kevin said with a little smile. "I'll make the call once we land."

Meanwhile, Emily was sitting on the couch in her new home, watching the television while Mike did some work out in the yard. Emily's neighbours, the citizens of her home town had always been a community spirited bunch, and when they had heard she had fallen ill, they all pitched in and had gone to their farm, lending whatever time they could to help with the refurbishments which otherwise Mike and Emily would never have had time to do. Mike had grown up in a very different neighbourhood, and had never seen anything like it. By the time Emily had gotten home, the place house was now gleaming, with a new coat of paint, and fully redecorated. The fields had been turned and treated, even the tools that had been left behind by the previous occupant, rusty and dull, had been cleaned up and sharpened. They would still need to be replaced eventually, but they would be serviceable for at least one or two more years, until they started earning money from the land.

Everything had been left ready for the start of sowing for the season. All in, it was a tremendous gift, one that no one had asked for any form of payment for, but Mike was already trying to think of ways to make up to them.

Emily remembered the kindness of the community. Although she had suffered as a kid, she remembered how everyone pulled together in times of need. When someone had a lean harvest and had trouble paying their bills, the rest of the town would give what they could to get them through the year. The year the Jenson's place had been flooded, everyone helped to get the farm back to working order.

The reason the kids had been different was largely a symptom of the fact that their parents worked so long and hard on their farms and the associated businesses that they were largely oblivious to some of their kids' less savoury behaviour, but in their short time here, she had noticed even that had changed. Those that never left the town tended to end up taking up their family businesses, and becoming part of the community themselves. More than one person had come to Emily and introduced themselves as some of her former tormentors and apologised for their behaviour growing up. In short, they ended up mellowing out in their old age and becoming just like their parents. Some of the people that had made her life a living hell growing up were indeed some of the ones responsible for fixing up her new home.

She was flicking through the channels, trying to find something to keep her mind off things. She was glad to be home, and she knew that she should be happy that she was healthy, that the growth the doctor had found in no way threatened her life, but it was what it cost her that hurt the most. She and Mike had always taken having a family for granted. They didn't have any immediate plans, but they always presumed that it would happen at some point. Now though, from what she understood, the procedure that had guaranteed her health had also left her unlikely to ever be able to give Mike that family.

She flicked through the channels, but found that no matter what she watched, nothing took her mind off it. It was like every channel on the box was conspiring to remind her of her situation. Documentaries covering teenage pregnancies, soap operas where every second character seemed to be either pregnant or giving birth, even the kids' channels did nothing to help the matter. She just switched off the television and threw the handset aside.

Her thoughts went to what Serena had offered. While she knew that it would be possible to adopt, the fact was any child that was not born of their bloodline would never inherit their symbol power. Serena could have kids of her own one day, which meant that the Earth Symbol Power was, for all intents and purposes, safe. It was Mike that she felt sorry for. She felt like she had cheated him, and his family out of their legacy. It seemed though that modern science, and her sister, had offered them a way out. It was possible for her and Mike to still biologically have a child, using Serena as a surrogate, a move she had suggested herself. They had a lot to think about, it was a lot for all of them to consider. However, they also knew that while the eggs the doctor had harvested would keep for a while, the longer they waited, the less likely it was that the procedure would be successful. In the end, it was a decision that they had to make quickly if they wanted to maximize their chances.

Emily's Samuraizer rang, and she opened it, seeing that it was Lauren on the other end. She answered the call.

"Hey Lauren, what's up?" Emily asked her. She had to admit that they hadn't seen much of each other in a while. She had heard through the grapevine about Lauren's legal issue, and could understand why she hadn't come to visit.

"Well, Antonio's back in town, and Mia and Kevin are coming home today." Lauren informed her. "Kevin just called from the airport to ask if they could come over for a get-together. We're all going to be there if you feel up to it?"

Emily smiled. One of the things she hated was that Mia wasn't there when she was ill. She hadn't told Mia about her illness, thinking that it wasn't as though she could do anything from Rio anyway. There was no need to spoil their honeymoon with her issues. Still, it was nice to hear that Mia was coming home. She wanted to hear all about the honeymoon, and everything they had gotten up to. Well, maybe not everything, she imagined there were some details of their honeymoon she really didn't need to hear about.

"Um...yeah, that sounds great!" Emily told her. "So...should we bring anything?"

"Just come yourselves. We'll provide everything else." Lauren answered. "So, we'll probably be eating around seven."

"We'll be there." Emily told her, hanging up. She got up, heading out to the yard. "Mike, get the car!"

"Emily?" He asked her. "What is it?"

"Mia and Kevin are coming home!" Emily told him. "We're all meeting up at the Shiba House."

"That's today?" He asked her. "Wow, I'll just get changed. I think they'd appreciate me taking a shower too."

"Um...yeah, that would probably be a good idea." Emily conceded as he got closer. Mike was starting to get used to the farm life, including the smells that went with it. "Just don't take long. Mia and Kevin will probably have pictures."

In another part of town, Antonio was enjoying being back in town. He had loved his time at JKP learning the ropes about running a restaurant, but he had to admit loving being back in Panorama City with Jayden. Lauren was helping them get the house ready for all their guests, knowing it wouldn't be long until they arrived.

They heard a knock on the door, and opened it, finding Serena and Terry standing outside. Lauren gestured them inside.

"Well, come in, don't just stand there!" She welcomed them. Serena came in first, with Terry a little way behind her, looking a little subdued. He handed a bottle of wine to Serena.

"Thanks for inviting us over." He told her. "It'll be great seeing Kevin and Mia back."

"Sure, thanks for the wine." Lauren answered. "Terry, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, things are good." He said, somewhat unconvincingly. "I'm just getting back into the books, trying to dust off the old brain cells for when the next semester starts. Taking a year out might have been cool, but medical school isn't the kind of place to take lightly."

"I guess not." Lauren agreed, showing him inside. Serena had already made her way to the kitchen to help Jayden and Antonio look through take away menus to decide what they would have.

Just before she could close the door though, she saw a car rolling in the driveway. It wasn't Mike's though. She suddenly smiled as she saw Grant getting out of the car, and beginning to unload Sadie's wheelchair. She rushed out to greet them.

"Grant, Sadie how are you both?" She asked them. "This is a surprise."

"Mia called and asked us to meet you all here." Sadie responded as she shifted to the wheelchair. "She said there was some kind of party."

"Yeah, Baron and Michelle will be here soon too, Kevin called them to get a ride home." Martin informed them. "I guess they wanted to see everyone when they got home."

"Well, the more the merrier I guess." Lauren said with a shrug, showing them inside. "Terry's around here somewhere, I guess you'll want to see him."

About an hour later, the party was in full swing. Everyone had arrived, and they were all having a good time. They had ordered, and were just waiting on the food arriving. They knew it would take a while for the restaurant to provide an order so large, so they had plenty of time to hear about Kevin and Mia's honeymoon. Antonio had helped Kevin link his camera up to a projector to show their pictures on a large screen.

"So, as you can see the city was just beautiful." Kevin said happily. "Of course, not as beautiful of my lovely wife."

"Aw...why don't you say things like that anymore?" Sadie asked her husband. Grant just rolled his eyes.

"Great, thanks for that Kevin." He muttered.

"Well, maybe this will make up for it." Kevin answered, pulling Mia in closely. He could feel her practically bouncing with excitement.

"We have some really big news." She answered, struggling to contain herself. "I'm...I'm pregnant!"

The room fell into silence as she said this. Kevin and Mia just looked a little confused at the somewhat horrified stares.

"Didn't you guys hear?" Kevin asked them. "We're going to be parents!"

Nobody answered, and they all seemed more than a little uneasy, like they had been hit with a train. A glass fell to the floor, shattering, and they all realised that Emily had dropped it.

"Emily?" Mia asked. The Yellow Ranger just got up and ran from the room, followed closely by Mike. Everyone in the room, other than the rather confused newlyweds realised what had happened. Mia and Kevin were away while Emily was at the hospital. They had only just gotten back into town. Obviously, no one had told them yet.

"What's wrong?" Mia asked them.

"Um...we're really sorry about this sweetheart." Sadie told her daughter. "There's something you need to know about Emily."


	13. Divisive Issue

**A/N: **Just pre-emptively, before anyone asks, do NOT be surprised if I don't start any Megaforce stories for some time.

The Copyright Killjoys have stamped down hard on the usual avenues I had for getting episodes from the States, and it is entirely possible I may have to wait until the season starts airing in the UK before I can start to come up with anything. To give you an idea, last year, Super Samurai started in the US in February, and we didn't get it until AUGUST! So...don't be surprised.

If I CAN get a hold of something, and the bunnies descend, I may start writing about it, but just a warning. Don't be shocked if it takes some time.

Mia sat in what used to be her bedroom, while her mother explained about all she had missed while she was away. Their idea of having a month in Rio was a good one, giving them something they truly would never forget, but it did mean that they had apparently missed out on quite a bit.

Her mother's soothing voice had slid away into a slightly tinny, garbled sound as she listened with horror to what had happened with Emily. Her best friend, her little sister, had been taken to hospital with what at the time, some had suspected might be cancer. She had been there for a couple of weeks, undergoing tests and a couple of operations. Mia could hardly register what was being said as she tried to imagine it all. She caught on to a few points of what her mother was saying, picking up that the doctors had satisfied themselves that she was not in danger, and that they were confident she would not require further treatment, but on the whole, she was dazed, like she had been hit in the face with a hammer.

She worried for Emily, and her mindset. She had gone through a terrible ordeal, and while her friends and family were there for her, Mia hadn't been. She had been off enjoying herself on her honeymoon. She felt anger that she didn't know what had happened, but most of all, she felt guilty. She felt guilty that she hadn't been there when Emily needed her. She felt guilty that she had shoved her happiness in Emily's face without any idea what she was going through. Most of all, she felt guilty about the fact that as it stood, her news, the fact she was pregnant, had to be a painful reminder of something Emily had only recently learned was something she would probably never have.

"I can't believe this." Mia muttered, looking to her mother as Sadie finished speaking. "So, they say she's never going to have kids?"

"Doctors are always reluctant to use definite terms like certainty or impossible." Sadie reminded her, recalling her own experiences with the spinal injury that had left her paraplegic. "But from what I've been told, she's been told that the odds against it are pretty steep."

"Like...winning a bet on the Superbowl steep?" Mia asked her.

"More like winning a lottery rollover steep." Sadie told her sadly. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I know this is difficult..."

"Emily must really hate me." Mia sniffed, pulling out a handkerchief. "I came in here, all smiles and laughter, and I just blurted out..."

"Mia, that was just bad luck." Sadie cut her off. "None of us wanted to tell you over the phone, it's not the kind of thing you want to hear over the phone...not that I can think there's a particularly great way to hear about something like this."

"Still, the way it happened, she has to feel like we're rubbing her face in it." Mia answered, the anguish obvious in her face. "She's just getting over all this, then I walk in and without even trying..."

"Mia, you've had your own issues with this kind of thing." Sadie reminded her sadly. "It's natural all this has to affect you."

"I'm not worried about me mom." Mia told her. "I'm worried about Emily. The way she ran off..."

"Mike's gone after her." Sadie reminded her. "This was a terrible thing to happen, but if anything, you know she has a lot of people around her that care about her. She'll be alright in time."

Mia didn't look convinced, but Sadie just held her hand and squeezed it gently.

"You have every right to be happy Mia." Sadie assured her. "Try not to feel too badly about things going well for you just because things aren't going well for someone else. The timing may not have been ideal for everyone, but then these things rarely are. All you have to remember is that there's more than just you and Emily to worry about. You have my grandchild to care for too."

Mia forced a smile.

"So, you're not too upset about becoming grandma?" Mia asked her. Sadie just smiled.

"Well, maybe we can try to keep the G-word until the baby comes." She conceded. "I don't feel quite old enough for that yet."

"I'll try to remember." Mia answered. "Grandma."

"Don't push your luck!" Sadie warned her daughter as they headed out to rejoin the others.

In another part of town, Mike was frantically searching for Emily. He knew all of the places she liked to go, and had started with those places. In the end, he finally found her at the old lookout point.

It was a place that meant a lot to her. It was where she had shown the most strength. When Dekker had kidnapped Serena in order to force Jayden into a duel, Emily had gone after them, attacking him in a full blown fury. The old lookout point no longer really existed; her final attack had caused half of the cliff-face to fall away, burying the demented half-Nighlock. In that one attack, she had shown more power than anyone had ever thought she was capable of. She had come here a couple of times when she was low, and Mike knew that right now, she was at her lowest.

She was sitting well beyond the safety barrier the city had erected after the "rockslide" as they had dubbed it to cover for the unexplained seismic event. Mike was worried about her already, but seeing her sitting so close to the edge, so close to a sheer drop of almost ninety feet straight into a rocky, churning section of the coastline, he had to admit being terrified. One slip, that would be all it took for him to lose her, and in her current state of mind...he had to cut himself off. He didn't want to entertain the thought...he couldn't allow himself to believe it. He made his way past the barrier, and approached her slowly.

"You ran off pretty quickly." He told her. "We were all really worried about you."

Emily didn't answer. She just sat there, staring out over the ocean. Mike had to steel himself to make his way forward. He had never been especially afraid of heights, but with his concentration on Emily, and her emotional state, he just wanted to be sure of making it to her safely. He got over beside her, and sat down with her.

"You had me worried." Mike told her. "I didn't know what to think."

"It's not fair Mike." Emily murmured. "It's not fair."

"Emily..."

"Why did this have to happen?" She asked him. "Have I not given enough? Did I do something terrible to deserve this?"

"Emily, you can't think like that." Mike told her.

"I know it's petty, I know it's wrong, but when Mia told me, I hated her!" Emily snapped at him. "I know we wanted to wait, I know we never intended to have kids for a while yet, but we always expected it. We always just knew that just like everyone else, we'd get to have our own kids to raise."

"Emily, I've already told you, that doesn't matter to me as much as you do." Mike assured her. "If we had had kids, I'm sure I'd have loved that, but if that's not on the cards, that's just the hand fate dealt us."

"But why Mike?" Emily shrieked, throwing his arm off her, her face contorted into an expression of pain and confusion. "Why do I have to go through this? Why can I not just be like everyone else? There are kids on TV all the time having kids! Kids, people that don't even want kids are having them. Hell, the homes are full of kids that people either didn't want or had taken off them because they couldn't take care of them!"

"Emily, please calm down." Mike begged her as she got up, heading closer to the edge. She looked up to the heavens, screaming angrily.

"I did everything that was asked of me!" She screamed. "I put my life on hold! I took Serena's place! I fought all those Nighlock!"

"Emily..."

"Why did this have to happen? Didn't I give enough?" She continued. "What do I still owe the world? Why am I being punished?"

Mike grabbed her, snatching her back from the edge as pulled her into his arms.

"I know it's wrong, I know it's petty, but when Mia said that...all I felt was angry!" Emily sobbed. "I know I should be happy for her. I know I should, but it just feels so unfair!"

"I know it does." Mike said soothingly as he held her closely. "I know it does."

Back at the Shiba House, the food had arrived, but no one felt much like celebrating. They had eventually decided to just start, and leave some aside for Mike and Emily when they came back. There was no point in spoiling it.

Serena was in the kitchen, eating a chicken vindaloo with garlic naan. She was worried about Emily too, but she trusted Mike to take care of her. She wanted to do anything that she could to help, but until Emily was ready, there wasn't much she could do.

She was in the middle of eating when Terry came in. She just looked up, before turning her attention back to her dinner.

"Serena, there's no need to be like that." He told her. "I'm worried too."

"That's easy to say." She grumbled, slurping down a little more. Terry just shook his head.

"Serena, do you really think I don't care?" He asked. "Emily's like a sister to me."

"Well she's not exactly your real sister is she?" Serena asked him angrily. "You've already proven that."

"Serena, I never said I didn't care..."

"You didn't have to!" Serena snapped at him. Terry just sighed and stood with his hands on his hips. This had been something that had started between them at home, and for the most part they had kept to themselves.

"Serena, you can't just hold that against me." He answered.

"I'm their only chance!" Serena stated flatly. "Emily's been told as much. You've seen how devastated she is. There's no other way."

"I just said..."

"You said you don't want me to do it." Serena interrupted him. Terry just looked at her.

"No, I said that it's something we all need to think about seriously." Terry corrected her. "It's a lot to ask..."

"No one's asking. I'm doing it Terry." Serena put down flatly. "And...I'm doing it as soon as Dr Waller's ready to book me an appointment."

Terry just shook his head in disbelief.

"Wait, what?" He asked her.

"You saw what this is doing to Emily! If there's something I can do for her, then there's not one thing anyone can do to stop me." Serena stated. "Now, it's my body, and it's my life."

"You mean I don't get a say in this?" Terry asked her.

"Terry, there's nothing..."

"Do you have any idea what's entailed in all this?" Terry asked her. "You're going to have to go through surgery! There's no guarantee that it'll work, then if it does, you're going to have to go through a pregnancy."

"Terry, I know..."

"Then, after all that, after carrying a child, after all of it, you'll then be expected to just hand it over to your sister!" He told her. "Do you have any idea what that'll be like? Can you honestly say that after all that, you'll be alright to just give your baby away? I've heard so many stories of other people who changed their minds!"

"I'm not changing my mind Terry." Serena told him. "If you have a problem with that..."

"I'll admit I'm not wild about the idea my girlfriend wants to have another couple's kid, but that isn't what this is about." Terry assured her. "You never even asked me before you agreed to this."

"Like I said, it's my body and it's my life." Serena told me. "Now, you can either deal with it, or you can't, but my sister needs me. Don't ever try to make me choose."

Terry just conceded defeat on the matter and left the room. He wanted to support Serena. That was all he wanted. He didn't like the idea of the surrogacy; all he wanted was her to think things through. He hated how the issue had divided them. It broke his heart to be distanced from her, but once Serena's mind was made up, there wasn't anything that anyone could say that would convince her otherwise. He loved her dearly, and he didn't want to lose her. He just couldn't help how he felt. As much as it pained him, he had to wonder if they were still on the same path.


	14. Antonio's New Project

It was starting to get dark, and the others were starting to get worried about Emily. Mike had sent them word that he had found her, but it was still taking quite a while for them to come home. A lot was going on, and the mood in the room was becoming a little fraught. Mia was nervously chewing on her fingernails, waiting for Emily to come back. She knew that after the bombshell they had dropped, she wondered if Emily would just head home. She could understand why she wouldn't want to talk to Mia. She had been through a rough time herself with her pregnancy with Evan. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if someone told her that she would never be able to have children.

Baron, Kevin's dad, came over to the corner of the room, where Antonio was staring at his tablet, while he cleaned up after the take-away. He just smiled.

"I take it you're looking at ideas for the restaurant?" He asked. Antonio just looked to him, then back to the tablet.

"Um...not exactly." He answered. "Between my classes and all the time I spend getting advice from RJ and Hayley, my head feels like its spinning. I'm just relaxing with a little light web browsing."

"Monster watch?" Baron asked as he picked up the tablet and inspected the image on the screen. "See real-life photographs of monsters from around the world?"

"I know, I know, most of the stuff on here is pretty lame." Antonio told him. "It's mostly blurry photos that could be anything. There are about fifty thousand Bigfoot pictures in here, but every now and then a decent picture shows up."

"I see the Nighlock page has stopped getting new hits." Baron chuckled. "Wait, what's this?"

"It's just some weird insect looking thing." Antonio told him. "Apparently the picture was uploaded by some girl who was out tracking insect migrations."

"It's pretty detailed and realistic." Baron stated. Antonio just shrugged.

"Sometimes that's just as bad as blurry and undetailed photos. She probably made it up on her computer. She could probably have put that together on photoshop."

"I guess you have a point." Baron answered with a sigh, almost sounding a little disappointed. With the Nighlock gone, the Samurai's war was effectively over, but he knew that the world had so many more mysteries and monsters than their own. If nothing else, he knew that there had been other teams who dealt with their own threats to the planet. "So much for the photography of Emma Goodall."

"So, you're going to be a Grandfather." Antonio remarked. "I guess that has to be pretty exciting news."

"Well, I have to admit that it is pretty big news." Baron answered. "It almost makes this other piece of news I have pale in comparison. I think I've found a great site for the restaurant."

Antonio just looked at him, trying to figure out how to feel about this. Baron was going to invest a considerable amount of money into the restaurant, so it was only natural he wanted to help. However, he had always agreed to be a silent partner. He had no interest in actually running or working in the restaurant himself. It was part of their agreement that Baron would allow Antonio to run the restaurant as his own business. However, in all his work to figure out how he wanted to run the restaurant, certain things had gone by the wayside, such as actually finding somewhere to buy and use as the restaurant. It was a rather important detail that he didn't yet have somewhere to make into the restaurant.

Baron saw the look on Antonio's face and realised he had somewhat overstepped the mark of what they had agreed. He just held up his hands.

"Look, I know I'm meant to be a silent partner, but something came to my attention that I just couldn't ignore. You know how a lot of property's currently abandoned right?" He asked. Antonio just leant on the counter and nodded. It was true, after the final battle, a lot of property was currently uninhabited, and the ownership of many locations was still in question. Between some people who simply left, and didn't feel safe to come back, and indeed some who didn't survive the war, there was a lot of property that had been repossessed by the city. Of course, the city needed to get back on its feet as quickly as possible, and that meant money, LOTS of money, and more importantly, businesses to create infrastructure. Baron handed Antonio a brochure.

"I walk past this place all the time on my way to the pool." He told Antonio. "It's only a couple of minutes walk from there, and it overlooks the ocean. I thought it would be a great location for a seafood restaurant."

Antonio looked through some of the pictures. It looked like a good space.

"We can go and visit it tomorrow." Baron suggested. "Trust me; the pictures don't do it justice. It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but it's going for a song!"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a look." Antonio responded, putting the brochure away. "I guess it's probably best not to leave it too long. Call the estate agent, and set up a meeting for a viewing tomorrow morning. If the price is that good, we can't be the only ones that'll be interested."

"That's what I was thinking." Baron conceded. "The final decision is yours, I promise, but when I saw this...I just had to bring it to your attention."

"Well, I'm grateful you did." He told him. Just then, they heard the door, and all looked around, seeing Mike and Emily walking back in. Antonio just nudged Baron and gave him a knowing look. Baron just nodded in understanding. They could discuss it tomorrow. Right now, there was something more important to deal with.

"Emily, you really scared us." Mia said sympathetically as she saw the Yellow Ranger.

"I'm really sorry I ran off the way I did." She announced to the room. "I guess hearing Mia's news was a bit of a shock."

"We understand Emily." Sadie responded sympathetically. "You've been through a lot recently. We all know that."

"I know, but I guess...I guess this was always something I was going to have to face." Emily sighed, being held closely by her fiancé. "I think it would have been naive to believe everyone would put their lives on hold for me. I guess it was inevitable one of you was going to start a family. It's just a lot sooner than I was ready for."

"So...you're really alright with this?" Mia asked her nervously. She knew that it wasn't really her fault. It wasn't as though they planned on having kids so soon, and the timing was far from ideal for Emily's piece of mind. Emily just went to Mia, hugging her gently.

"I...I will be." Emily assured her. "It hurts right now, but you're my best friend. I know you'll make a great mom. If anyone deserves this, it's you."

"What happened to you isn't fair Emily." Mia answered. "If there's anything we can do..."

"We'll all do anything for you." Serena interrupted her, joining in the hug, looking over to Terry, who knew exactly what she meant. She had already made up her mind. Emily was the most important thing in the world to her. Now, all he could do was wonder if he was willing to lose her over her decision.

The following day, Antonio went with Jayden down to the coast. Given the events of the previous night, he didn't really feel right about bringing up the idea of the restaurant that night. He had finally managed to get Jayden to agree to take a walk with him, under the promise of buying him breakfast. The two walked along by the waterfront, enjoying each others' company. It was no longer as cold as it had been, starting to warm up again as they started to edge slowly towards Spring. Jayden looked out over the ocean as he and Antonio leaned on the barrier.

"You know, I always loved this area." Jayden told him. "Even when I was a kid and Ji used to take me running as part of my training. I always loved coming by here."

"Really? You really like it here?" Antonio asked him. Jayden just nodded. "Well, what if I told you we might be spending a whole lot more time here?"

"Well, we do kind of live here." Jayden answered.

"No, I mean...a whole lot more time HERE!" Antonio told him. He pulled out the property brochure and showed it to Jayden.

"A property brochure?" Jayden asked him. "Wait, this place is..."

"Right around the corner." Antonio concluded, taking Jayden by the hand. "Come on, Baron's meeting us with the Estate Agent!"

Jayden went with him, finding the former Blue Samurai waiting just around the corner with a woman in a trouser suit. Baron came over, greeting them both.

"Baron, you know about this?" Jayden asked.

"I found this place." He told Jayden. "Come on inside, check it out!"

Heading inside, Jayden looked around, and was beginning to doubt the vision that Baron seemed to have for the place. It was a decent space, having been a restaurant before the war, but some damage from one of the Ranger battles, combined with a couple of months of neglect had really taken their toll. There was debris littering the floor, and numerous tables and chairs were in various states of disrepair. Still, as they made their way through, he couldn't help noticing that Baron and Antonio were starting to get excited.

"As you can see, the premises are a good size." The estate agent began. "We've already had the survey done, and most of the damage is purely cosmetic."

"Cosmetic?" Jayden asked as he kicked some broken glass from the boarded up window. "This is what you call cosmetic damage?"

"The wiring and plumbing are all up to code, but it would still be a good idea to get it looked at." She continued, seeming to ignore Jayden. "Over here, we have the bar..."

"Thank you, I think I can manage things from here." Baron stated, patting her on the shoulder. "Now, Antonio, I know you have your heart set on a seafood place, so just give me a little while and I'll tell you some of the ideas I had."

Baron made his way to the counter, and moved around behind it.

"I was thinking, you have the ocean just out there, which will really get people in the mood for good seafood, but I was wondering how you felt about incorporating the fact that we're close to the pool?"

"The pool?" Antonio asked him. Baron just nodded.

"Well, what I was thinking is...how about if we honour the local team here? You know, have some pictures up on the walls, maybe bring some of the trophies in here to put on display."

"That...that sounds doable." Antonio conceded. "Wait, I've got another idea. How about we go all out on the health thing?"

"OK, I'm not sure I follow." Jayden answered. Antonio just smiled.

"I could do a variety of healthy meals on the menu." Antonio suggested. "The bar, as well as liquor, we could serve a variety of health drinks. Smoothies, green teas, stuff like that!"

"I like the way you think." Baron stated. "I could have the guys come here from time to time with no worries about them keeping up with their diets. It'll really reinforce the whole motif."

"Well, how about you just go the whole hog?" Jayden asked them. "Maybe if you donate a proportion of the profits to the sports centre, you can get some good publicity."

"Wow, way to get into the spirit!" Antonio complimented his boyfriend. Jayden started looking through the debris.

"You know...maybe this won't be so bad after all." Jayden stated. "It'll take a while to get this place in shape..."

"Well, it's not like I was planning on opening in the next week or anything. I still have a lot to figure out."

"So, what do you say?" Baron asked them. Jayden and Antonio just looked at each other. Jayden still had a few reservations, but seeing the way Antonio's face lit up, he could see that he was genuinely excited. He could almost see him coming up with ideas of what the restaurant would look like, and what he wanted to do with it. Jayden just smiled.

"Tell the estate agent to get back in here." He announced. "Let's see what they have to say about the price."


	15. Choices Affect Relationships

A few days later, Terry was sitting at the table in his kitchen, surrounded by books. While he continued to volunteer at the hospital, and work gigs and a part-time job to pay his share of the bills, he spent a lot of his remaining time studying to get him back up to speed. He never once regretted his decision to take the time out to help the Rangers, but it did mean that he'd missed pretty much a whole year. The last thing he wanted when he went back to medical school was to be struggling to catch up. He had already resigned himself to repeating his third year, but he didn't want to even think about how he would go about paying to repeat again.

Serena was moving around in her room. The apartment had become rather quiet since Serena had come home and told him about her plan to help Emily and Mike by acting as a surrogate. It had, unfortunately, led to a huge fight. They'd gotten a two bedroom apartment when they moved in, but now that Serena was spending more and more time in her room, they'd never seemed further apart.

Their relationship was only a few months old, but they'd already lived together at the Shiba house for months before. Initially, things had been really good between them. Between all of Terry's shifts and studying, and Serena's shifts to build up her savings for when her college courses began in the fall, they had made the most of their time together. They loved having their own space, and being able to just be together.

It had been a shock to say the least when Serena told him that she planned to act as a surrogate for Emily. From what he understood, Serena hadn't even taken much time to consider the move herself. She had pretty much told Emily as soon as she heard that she and Mike would be unable to have their own children that she would help them.

Terry knew about surrogacy from his studies. Indeed, he had inadvertently given her the idea by talking about some of the things he was studying for his degree. A few things worried him about Serena's decision, not least was because he knew that even with a willing surrogate and healthy samples, there was no guarantee that the procedure would take. It wasn't a magic wand that could be waved that would magically enable the infertile to have a family. It worried him that Serena seemed so set on her idea, that he wondered how she would cope if it turned out that she still couldn't help Emily the way she wanted to.

There was yet another issue that worried him. He had known it to be a highly controversial issue within medicine for a number of reasons, many of them to do with the fact that at present, the law governing the process was still developing. Many cases of surrogacy ended badly.

There was still a large issue governing exactly who had rights, who the child actually belonged to. Although biologically speaking, the baby was the child of the parents that donated the eggs and sperm; there was a huge issue over the rights of the surrogate. They carried the child, nurtured and grew it for the duration of their pregnancy. They gave birth to the child, all of which created an emotional and psychological bond to the baby that was impossible to deny, and many argued that the one that gave birth should have rights over the baby. More than once, a surrogate that had begun the procedure willingly had found themselves unable to give up the child when all was said and done. It was the reason that most states had outright banned people from acting as surrogates for payment, and many still weren't clear on who held the rights over the child. While their relationship was young, he had spent enough time with Serena to know that one day she wanted her own family. Family was always the most important thing to Serena growing up; it was the source of a lot of her guilt over being unable to take her place as Yellow Ranger. It was the reason she never spoke up when she fell ill until it was too late, and her condition was terminal, or would have been without the intervention of the Swordfish Zord. It was the reason that without a second thought, even a moment to consider what it would entail, she had decided to give Emily what she wanted so desperately, but would probably never be able to have.

The last thing he wanted to imagine would be the heartache it would cause if she grew too attached to the baby. If she did, then at the end, she would still be expected to give the child to her sister. What would happen in the moment that Emily expected to be given the child she was promised? Either Serena would give the child over, suffering the heartache of giving up a child, or she would refuse, in which there would be no going back. She would undoubtedly lose the rest of her family. They would never be able to forgive her. He couldn't bear to see her in that situation.

He had only tried to advise caution, try to make her aware of what surrogacy entailed, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he just couldn't seem to say anything right. Anything he said, she seemed to take as an attack. Either she took it as him implying she shouldn't do what she could for Emily and he was selfish, or he was worried about what it would be like for them to deal with the pregnancy. The fact was, for almost a year at least, Serena would have to put her own life on hold yet again while she had the baby. Serena just took that as him indicating she should value herself over Emily, and yelled at him more. He never had a chance to discuss any more of his concerns. The whole thing descended into a huge argument that only ended when the building superintendant warned them to break it up because others were complaining about the noise. Now, they barely spoke to each other at all.

Serena came from her room, sorting her hair over the collar of her leather jacket as she got ready to leave. Terry furrowed his brows.

"Um...I thought you were working at the Chicken Shack today?" He asked her. "Are they having a casual day?"

"I called in a personal day." Serena told him, not even looking at him. He could feel the force behind her words. She had made up her mind, and she was going ahead, regardless of what Terry had to say. "I have an appointment with Dr Waller in an hour. Emily and Mike are going to meet me there."

"Oh." Terry replied a little sadly. He just took a sip of his drink, before getting up. "Do you want me to drive?"

"I called a cab." She told him abruptly. "I don't know when I'll be back, just see to yourself, I'll get something on my way home."

As she left, Terry just took a deep breath and sat back down. He hated what this had done to them. He stared at his books, finding the words all blurring together. His head just started to hurt as he tried and failed to get his mind back on his studies. Finally giving up, he just gathered his jacket and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door on his way.

In another part of town, Lauren was in the mall, doing some shopping. Although it was months until she would be attending university, she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot, and had gotten some tips on what she should do to prepare. She had already been around a couple of book shops for reading material, but after that, she had started going around some clothing stores. She still didn't quite get what the obsession was with clothes, and despite the fact that many of her Christmas presents had been different outfits from her friends to try and encourage her to break out of her mentality of always dressing the same way out of convenience, many of them were still in their packaging.

The only thing that convinced her to try and expand her outlook was when Jayden pointed out to her that since she generally looked like she always wore the same outfit, some might make the mistake that it WAS the same outfit that she wore every day. One of the reasons she wanted to go to school was to expand her horizons, and meet new friends, something that wouldn't be helped if people thought she had questionable personal hygiene and never changed her clothes. She looked through some racks groaning with frustration. She had picked up a couple of red t-shirts with a couple of different slogans, but she still didn't really know what people would expect of her. All she knew from the times she had visited the campus was that there was no uniform at Panorama U. The students wore their own clothing. It just made her wonder how anyone was meant to decide what to wear. At least with a uniform, the decision was made for them.

She looked up from the racks as she became aware of something happening a little way off. She saw a couple of guys starting to crowd a younger girl. They were wearing suits, but the way she reacted when she saw them indicated she wasn't happy to see them. Lauren gathered up her bags and made her way over to see what the trouble was.

As she got closer, she recognised the young woman, realising it was Sophie. It hadn't been long ago that they were sitting across a desk in a legal office, thrashing out the details of her settlement over the assault charge. While they had seen each other a couple of times when Lauren went to the coffee shop, they hadn't really spoken since then. Lauren paused a little way from them as one of the men got a little closer.

Both men were huge, and wearing dark suits. One of them had bleached blonde hair, and dark skin, while the other was white, bald, and had dark eyes that seemed anything but friendly. The one with blonde hair was talking with Sophie.

"Sophie, Sophie...you know how much it hurts my feelings when you don't keep in touch." He stated. "You don't call, you don't come by...what am I meant to think?"

"Look, I've been really busy." Sophie stammered, seeing him.

"It looks like it." The bald one said coldly, looking to the shopping bags in her hands. He took one off her.

"Hey, I need..."

"Books, books...oh...nice!" The blonde one replied as he pulled a soft, brown leather jacket from the bag. "Well, this looks like a rather expensive and unnecessary luxury."

"Look, I said..."

"You were meant to give us that last payment a week ago." The blonde guy reminded her. "Now, how can you go around, without a care in the world, buying such lovely things...and this IS a lovely jacket by the way...when you have more pressing matters to worry about?"

"I told you, I'd get you the money." Sophie told him. "I just need a little longer. The coffee place has been really quiet lately, they've cut my shifts!"

"I fail to see how that's my problem." He answered. "Now, we can give you a little longer on that loan, but we'll need a little collateral."

"Kind of like that watch you're wearing." The bald one answered, gesturing to her wrist. Sophie just grabbed her watch and pulled it away.

"No, you can't!" She begged them. "My...my mom gave me that when I graduated High School!"

"Well, for now it's worth about...two hundred bucks?" The blonde guy responded as his companion grabbed Sophie's wrist and started to try and unclasp it. Lauren came from where she was listening.

"Hey Sophie, thanks for holding onto those bags for me." Lauren announced. She came over, taking the bags, before holding out a hand to the blonde guy who was still holding the jacket. He handed it over. "So...um...who are your friends?"

"If there's nothing we can do for you, then keep moving." The bald guy warned her. "We have something to discuss with..."

"Right, well she doesn't look too happy with how the conversation's going, so how about we cut to the chase?" Lauren stated. "If your friend doesn't let her go right now, I'll..."

"You'll do what exactly?" The bald guy asked. "In case you hadn't noticed..."

"In case YOU hadn't noticed, you haven't picked a great place to shake someone down for money." Lauren answered with a knowing smirk. "There are cameras and there're security guards in the mall. If we start something, then everyone's going to hear, and we all end up going down to the station to have a nice little chat with some cops about why two guys that must go about 220 apiece are accosting two girls half their size."

The blonde guy just indicated to his friend to let Sophie go. Lauren had a point, if mall security got involved, the cops would be called for sure. Lauren just crossed her arms.

"Well, now that you've made a smart decision, maybe you can tell me what you want, and we can all leave here without..."

"Your little friend here owes us three grand!" The blonde guy interrupted her.

"I only borrowed one!" Sophie protested.

"You forget interest." The blonde guy answered.

"It was six months ago!" Sophie shrieked.

"You really think that's a reasonable rate of interest?" Lauren asked him. She went to her wallet and pulled out five hundred dollars. "I believe you wanted her watch for two hundred? Well, if you take that and disappear, then we won't have to get security involved."

"Fine." The blonde guy answered, taking the money. He then glared at Sophie. "The next instalment is due in a month."

As they left, Sophie just looked at Lauren gratefully.

"Why...why did you do that?" She asked. Lauren just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't like bullies." Lauren responded. Although she was confident that she could have taken the two heavies that cornered Sophie, the incident in the bar had taught her that sending fists flying, especially in public, wasn't always the best way to deal with problems. "So, how did you end up owing those guys money?"

"I...I guess I just spend too much time in places like this." She admitted sheepishly. "My mom and dad don't have much money, and I couldn't get a scholarship, so I need to pay for everything. I just see people walking around, throwing money around like it doesn't mean anything, and I guess I just get jealous and wish I didn't have to miss out."

"But...you just sued me for..."

"That money's gone already." She admitted. "I needed to pay my tuition for the year, and my student loan hit its limit quite a while ago. When I heard there was a guy in town that gave out loans, I went for it."

"And you didn't think it was funny that someone was willing to lend money to someone who already has issues paying back their loans?" Lauren asked. Sophie just sighed.

"I guess it is pretty dumb." She told her. "Look, I know it's not your fault, but when Jeremy started talking about you, when he said you didn't need to work, that you hired out that whole hotel for you and your friends...I guess I just have kind of a chip on my shoulder about people with money."

"Trust me, it's not like I have everything." Lauren told her. "I think by now it's pretty obvious I'm not exactly a people person. I'm trying hard, but some things I just don't get. My...my carers didn't exactly bring me up like normal people."

"Your...your carers?" Sophie asked. It was then that she remembered what caused the fight in the bar in the first place. Lauren had told her she lost her dad, and had snapped when Sophie started mouthing off about her resting on her dad's money. "You...you didn't have parents did you?"

"Like I said, I didn't exactly have a normal upbringing." Lauren muttered. "I don't even know what I'm doing here. I'm trying to get some new stuff for Uni, but I don't know..."

"How can you possibly have any problem? You're hot!" Sophie complimented her. "I mean...let's see what you have already."

Lauren handed over the t-shirts, and Sophie looked through them all.

"OK, red is a theme, and it is a good colour on you, but let's think a little outside the box." Sophie told her. "Let me give you a few pointers. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff in here that'd look great on you!"

"You'd really help me?" Lauren asked her. Sophie just smiled.

"Well, you were willing to help me out even after I sued you." She answered. "I guess I really misjudged you. I'm sorry about...you know...that whole thing."

"I guess I didn't do much to help matters." Lauren answered. "So, come on. Show me what you think I should try."

Later, back at her apartment, Serena arrived, tossing her jacket in the corner, before heading to the sitting area. She stopped as she noticed that all of Terry's books were lying unattended.

She figured he must have gone for a break, and went to the fridge, getting herself a fruit juice. She had always kept healthy, but now that she'd seen Dr Waller to hear more about what would happen, she wanted to do everything she could to assist the process. She had already started to think of a diet that would help things along.

As she got back to the living room, she got a closer look at Terry's books. The one that was open...she recognised the picture that was sitting at the top. Although she sometimes got bored by his talk of his medical stuff, she still absorbed some of it. The picture at the top was the same one she saw when she left. Unless he had suddenly become the world's slowest reader, that meant he hadn't touched his books since she left.

She wandered around the apartment, starting to look for him, hoping that he had just gone to his room and drifted off, or that he was in the bathroom. There was no such luck.

"Terry?" She asked, but she didn't get an answer. After a little while longer of looking, and calling out his name, she came to the realisation that he was not in the apartment. She pulled out her cell phone and dialled, but it went straight to voice mail. Trying again, she got the same result.

Her heart sank. Although they were fighting, she still loved him. Now, he was gone, and she didn't know where he went, or when he'd be back. Presuming he came back at all. She fell onto the couch and tears began to run down her face.


	16. Odd Events

Jayden and Antonio had invited Ji and Brenda around for dinner, and were in the process of getting the place ready for them arriving with Terri.

Antonio was in the kitchen, and by the looks of things when Jayden came in to check on him, he was using pretty much every pot and pan in the house, which given that it had at one time housed eleven people was saying something. He looked around at the mountain of food Antonio was preparing, each of which seemed to be a completely different recipe.

"OK, I didn't know we were inviting every Ranger there's ever been to a party." Jayden chuckled.

"I wonder what that would look like." Antonio answered as his boyfriend stroked his shoulders gently. "I mean seriously, how many of us have there been?"

"Well, I was referring to the fact you've made enough to feed an army!" Jayden stated, gesturing to the food. "Don't you think you're going a little overboard? Terri doesn't even eat solid food yet. It's only the five of us."

"I just thought it might be an opportunity to try out a few ideas." Antonio told him. "I mean, since my majority shareholder has already signed the lease, I guess it's best to look at opening the place as soon as possible."

Jayden smiled hearing this. It had been a huge thing for Antonio. While he was in business for some time, the nature of the snack cart meant that he only had to make a few sales a day to stay afloat. He practically covered his daily expenses after his first customer. Starting a restaurant was a whole different venture, something he was keenly aware of, especially since he wasn't able to put up the money himself, which meant that he was playing with...and risking, other people's money. He had shareholders to worry about.

Jayden had put up half the money, something that wasn't unexpected, but Antonio still took seriously. Even though Jayden didn't really care about the expense, given the seemingly-limitless funds of the Shiba clan, Antonio still assured him that he wouldn't take it as read that the money would always be there. Baron, Kevin's dad, had put up another twenty five percent, which was a significant portion of his retirement nest egg. He had been investing in property and business for a while as a way to ensure he had an income when he finally gave up coaching and allowed Kevin to take over. While Baron was clearly not in desperate need of the money, again he didn't want to be responsible for him losing a large part of his portfolio and delaying his retirement.

The remaining twenty five percent was made up by RJ and Hayley, both business people that Antonio had worked with, and some guy that Hayley knew that Antonio was yet to meet named Ernie, who ran an ice-cream parlour known as "Ernie's Brainfreeze". Antonio thought it was an odd idea to name an ice-cream parlour after the undesirable and painful after-effects of eating ice-cream too quickly, but Hayley assured him he knew what he was doing, and insisted his business made respectable returns. Still, in the end, what it meant was that Antonio had a lot of people depending on him making his new restaurant work, not that he planned to fail anyway. It had shown Jayden something in Antonio he really liked. He still loved the fun-loving and easy-going side of Antonio, but when it came to the business, he was completely serious and focussed.

"You're already trying out recipes?" Jayden asked him. Antonio just shrugged.

"We have a captive audience, why not take advantage?" He asked. "Here, try this."

Before Jayden could protest, Antonio had shoved a spoon into his mouth. Jayden pulled it out, giving it a moment to consider the flavours. He could never remember Antonio coming up with a bad recipe, but this...he had really pulled out all the stops.

"Well, without sounding biased...this is amazing!" Jayden assured him. "If you serve stuff like this, your first Michelin star is a foregone conclusion."

Just then, they heard the door opening, and voices coming from the door, female voices. Jayden came towards the door, and found Lauren standing, smiling brightly talking with another girl, carrying a huge number of shopping bags, far more than Jayden could ever remember seeing her with before.

"Wow, I guess the shopping trip went..." His words tailed off as Sophie turned around, and he saw her face. Although they had only met once, it was a rather memorable experience for Jayden. "...well. Um..."

"Jayden, you remember Sophie don't you?" Lauren asked him. He just looked at Sophie, who seemed to be almost as nervous as he was. They both remembered just fine that the last time they saw each other was across the table in a Lawyer's office. While the settlement wasn't especially much to him, he was still a little surprised to see her with Lauren.

"Um...Yeah, I remember. You're Jayden right?" Sophie eventually managed to say, extending her hand for a handshake. "Lauren told me a lot about you."

Jayden shook her hand, but looked to Lauren, wondering what was going on. Lauren just sniffed the air.

"It smells like Antonio's cooking up a storm. Do you think dinner will stretch to one more?" Lauren asked him.

"Well...um..."

"Great! You don't have any plans, do you Sophie?" Lauren asked. Sophie just looked a little uneasy.

"I...I...I guess not." She stammered, looking at Jayden, her expression giving away her terror. Lauren just smiled.

"Then let me take your jacket! Ji and Brenda should be around with our baby sister shortly. She's adorable, you'll love her." Lauren assured her. "The living room is that way, go and make yourself at home. I'll be through with drinks in a minute."

She looked to Jayden, who was still completely confused.

"Lauren, you know that's Sophie right?" He asked her. "You know, Sophie? The girl who sued you...what? Maybe two weeks ago?"

"Yeah, she did." Lauren answered. "I did kind of deserve it though."

"Lauren, that's not really the point." Jayden continued. "She..."

"You know, she admitted she misjudged me, and maybe I did the same to her." Lauren told him as Antonio came in, open-mouthed, gesturing to the living room with his thumb. "Anyway, I have a guest to entertain, so if you will excuse me."

As she glided through to the main room, Antonio just looked at Jayden.

"So...the girl files a lawsuit against her, and now they're friends?" Antonio asked him. "Your sister is certainly unique."

"I'm beginning to realise just how unique she is." Jayden answered with a sigh. There was so much he missed out on with her, and so much that she missed out on, just being isolated from society.

"Wow, what kind of family am I getting into?" Antonio asked. Jayden just laughed.

"Hey, I didn't have a choice in the matter; you chose to become a part of this family." Jayden reminded him with a playful pat on the back. "I guess we have a guest for dinner."

"One more judge for the taste test." Antonio replied. "The more the merrier."

Back at her apartment, Serena was watching the TV, or at least, she was trying to. She wasn't really concentrating on anything, and flicked constantly. She went from Man Vs. Food, through a re-run of Saved By the Bell, to some reality show where the contestants...well...she wasn't sure what they had to do, or why, but they seemed to be humiliating themselves in progressively more humiliating ways for the sake of a few votes. None of the programmes interested her though.

She shut off the TV, and threw the remote aside as she looked back to the books. She had left the apartment in the early morning, and the books were still sitting at the same page Terry had been at when she left. It was now 6PM, meaning that he had not returned for the whole day.

She got up and pulled out her cell phone again, dialling Terry's phone again, waiting while it rang. Eventually it went to voicemail yet again. He still wasn't answering. She knew he wasn't on board with her decision to act as a surrogate, they'd fallen out badly over it, but she had hoped that at least he would answer her calls to let her know he was alright.

She tried another number, one she hadn't wanted to call. She called Sadie, his mom. She didn't want to call her, to worry her unduly if it turned out he wasn't there, and certainly not when there was every chance he would walk back in the door completely fine at any time. She got an answer after a couple of rings.

"Hello?" Sadie asked.

"Sadie, its Serena." She responded, starting to feel a little uneasy. "Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I've been trying to reach Terry, and I just can't get a hold of him. Has he been to see you?"

"No, not today." Sadie answered. "Serena, is everything alright?"

"No, it's fine. I'm probably just worrying over nothing." Serena told her, trying to appease her. There was no reason to get anyone worried just yet, not when there were many good reasons Terry hadn't called. "You know what? He always switches his phone off when he visits the kids at the hospital. He's probably there. I guess I'm just being clingy."

"Well, alright." Sadie said, not sounding like she was entirely convinced. "I'll call you if I hear anything."

Serena hung up, and started to chew on her fingernails. She tried another number.

"Central Panorama Hospital, how may I help you?" The receptionist answered.

"Hi, I'm looking for someone; he sometimes comes in to entertain the kids..."

"Oh, you mean Terry? You must be Serena!" The receptionist gushed as she heard this. "He talks about you all the time here; he's a huge hit with the kids! He..."

"Can you put him on the line?" Serena interrupted her. The receptionist just paused.

"Um...I'm afraid we haven't seen him today." She answered.

"Is it possible he just...came in?" Serena asked.

"I'm sorry, by policy anyone entering the building has to sign in." The receptionist replied. "I've been on all day. If he'd been through here I'd have heard about it."

"Thanks for checking anyway." Serena answered, before hanging up. She called a few other numbers. His band mates all insisted that they hadn't met him that day, and weren't due to get together for a rehearsal for another couple of days. Jayden was busy, but was able to confirm that Terry hadn't been round the Shiba House.

She was hesitant, but after calling Emily and Mike, she was convinced he wasn't there either. She called Mia, knowing that in any dispute, Mia would be on her side. However, Mia had her convinced that she hadn't seen Terry since the night they had announced she was pregnant.

By now, Serena was beginning to really panic. She didn't want to upset anyone unnecessarily, but so far all her attempts to find out where Terry was had failed. No one had seen him. Seeing that it was now close to fifteen hours since she had last seen him, she was becoming very worried about his whereabouts. She decided to try his cell phone one last time before she called the police. It rang and rang, just as it had every other time, but just before she hung up, she heard a click, indicating it had been answered.

"Hello?" A female voice answered.

"Who is this?" Serena asked.

"Who are you trying to reach?" The female voice answered. Serena started to lose her patience.

"My boyfriend owns the phone you're holding; you don't sound anything like him." Serena snapped at her. "Now, who are you and what are you doing with his phone?"

"OK, OK, just try to calm down." The voice on the other end said in a slightly rushed tone. "My name's Gia Moran. I heard this phone ringing and found it."

"Wait, you found it?" Serena asked her. "Where?"

"Um...It was on the ground by a dumpster near a pizza place. I'm on the corner of Eastman and Laird." Gia told her. "I was going to hand it into the police station..."

"Just wait there! I'll be there in twenty minutes." Serena told her. "Just wait there!"

With that, Serena grabbed her jacket, pulling it on and rushing out the door. Terry was a goofball, but she had never known him to lose his phone before. The fact it had apparently been found in the street by a complete stranger didn't sound good. She made her way out, her mind already coming up with a lot of very unpleasant reasons why his phone was just lying on the street unattended.


	17. Terry's Disappearance

Serena didn't know what to think as she hailed a cab, driving into the city. She had tried and failed to get a hold of Terry a couple of times, only to finally get through to his phone, that he no longer had it on him. His phone had been answered by a complete stranger, who had told her she found it just lying on the street unattended. A hundred horrible scenarios ran through her mind as to what could have happened to him that would cause him to leave without a word, and with no way of being contacted.

Although they had been fighting about the surrogacy, and had even stopped talking, she still loved him, and it terrified her to think that she was out in the city somewhere, and she had no idea if he was alright. She didn't want to think of the possibility that he had thrown his phone away on purpose, that he was leaving her altogether, and that he had simply had enough and decided to leave. It didn't make sense; he had left all of his possessions at the apartment. Of course he could have planned to send someone to collect his possessions later, but at very least she'd have expected him to pack for a couple of days. That left one horrible conclusion. He indeed had NOT left his phone by choice, which meant something had happened to him.

As she arrived at the corner of Eastman and Laird, just where the voice on the other end of the phone had told her to meet, she saw a young blonde woman standing, looking around inquisitively. She was wearing a black leather jacket, and leather boots, with a yellow t-shirt and black denims. She was an attractive girl, who looked to be around her late teens, perhaps early twenties. As Serena got out of the cab, she approached her.

"Are you Gia?" She asked. The girl nodded and showed her the phone.

"I guess you're Serena." She replied, handing over the phone.

"So, where exactly did you find the phone?" Serena asked her. Gia gestured over to some dumpsters.

"I hear it ringing as I left the donut shop. I was just getting some dinner for me and my friend." She explained, taking Serena over to the dumpsters. "My friend Emma dragged me into town, apparently some kind of moth or other's been shown to be nesting out of season in the woods near here. She dragged me out here, but there's only so much bug watching I can take."

"So, you found it here by the dumpster?" Serena asked. Gia just nodded.

"It was just lying on the ground. The screen was cracked, so it looks like someone tried to throw it into the dumpster and missed." Gia surmised. Serena looked at the phone, and confirmed that she was right. The screen was cracked, and the casing was scratched, indicating that it had been discarded rather carelessly, either being thrown or dropped. Serena started to look around. "Look, I never really saw anything, by the looks of it, the phone had been left here some time ago, but if you want me to hang around and talk to the cops..."

"Don't worry kid; I don't think that should be neces..." Serena paused as she looked a little further up the alley. Running down, she discovered to her horror a distinctive red spray splattered on the wall. Below it, some more red liquid had pooled on the ground. It was partially obscured by some litter, but as she threw it aside, Serena found the pool to be worryingly large.

"Oh God." Gia exclaimed. "Is that blood?"

"On second thoughts kid, maybe you should hang around." Serena told her, getting out her cell phone and starting to dial. "Hello, Panorama City police?"

"God, what have I gotten involved in?" Gia muttered as Serena started to relay the information of what she had found to the police. "Damn Emma and her bugs, why couldn't I just have stayed at home?"

Back at the Shiba House, Lauren was entertaining Sophie, while Ji, Kate, Jayden and Antonio watched on. Sophie had seemed awkward initially, but she was starting to relax a little with Lauren there as a buffer. She hadn't met Ji and Kate, but when Lauren explained that they were kind of like parents to her, she imagined they knew who she was. Jayden, she had met in the legal offices on the day they settled the lawsuit. The way Antonio looked at her, she got the impression he also knew about their past.

"Wow, all of this stuff is really good." Sophie complimented Antonio's cooking. "So you're really going to open a restaurant soon?"

"That's the plan." Antonio told her. "So, what do you like?"

"To be honest, I can't think of one thing you've made here that I wouldn't pay for." Sophie stated.

"Or get someone else to pay for after you sue them." Jayden said under his breath. Lauren had heard him though, and kicked him under the table, causing him to hiss slightly in pain.

"So, Lauren said you're with the Health Department." Sophie continued, looking to Kate. "That must be quite an eye opener."

"It really is. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've seen on an inspection." Kate answered. "It's taken a little getting used to leaving Terri at home, but Ji's really happy as a stay-at-home dad."

"I'll bet it is." Sophie commented, looking over to Terri, who was resting in Ji's arms as he sampled some sushi. "She is so adorable. You're so lucky."

"We are indeed." Ji answered.

"Well, it's getting late." Sophie announced. "I should really be getting home; I have an early shift tomorrow."

"I'll just call you a cab." Lauren added. "Antonio, make sure no one takes the last of the king prawn linguine, I haven't tried that."

As the two of them left the room, Jayden started rubbing his shin.

"You did kind of deserve that." Ji told him.

"Wait, what?" Jayden asked him. "She sued us Ji."

"Well, yes, yes she did." Ji answered. "But Lauren is no fool."

"She does kind of insist on seeing the best in people." Jayden reminded him. "She doesn't get the fact that some people are just as bad as Nighlock."

"Maybe giving Sophie another chance is a mistake, I don't know." Ji said with a shrug. "But you know as well as anyone, that she must make her own mistakes. Who knows? Perhaps this Sophie girl is a good person underneath."

"I know I've misjudged quite a few people." Brenda chipped in. "Do you remember Costaz? The guy threatened me, but in the end, he was the one that called an ambulance. If it hadn't been for him, I might not be alive today."

"And neither would this one." Ji said with a smile, bobbing Terri slightly.

"Two very good points if ever I've heard them." Antonio agreed with a little smile. Jayden just sighed.

"You know, I think I miss the days when people were on my side." Jayden sulked. As Lauren came back in, she picked up a plate, and served herself some linguine.

"This is really good Antonio." Lauren complimented him. "I think Sophie's right, I can't think of anything that isn't good enough for the menu."

"You should see what I have in mind for the desserts section." Antonio told them. "I'll just start bringing it through."

Elsewhere, Serena was sitting in the police station, waiting for some word on Terry. They had come and taken a look around the scene. They had taken a statement from Gia, but sent her on her way after taking her contact details and satisfying themselves that she genuinely didn't have any more useful information for them.

The wait was agonising, but eventually her attention was caught as Emily and Mike came down the hall. She had called them so that she could have someone to support her while the police searched for any clue as to what happened to Terry.

"So, what do they know?" Emily asked her.

"They're not telling me anything." Serena told them, her voice breaking in her panic. "I haven't seen him since this morning, but they can't list him as missing until he's been gone 24 hours or they have reason to suspect that his disappearance is suspicious."

"And they don't think a pool of blood is suspicious?" Mike asked her. She shook her head.

"They don't know if the incidents are connected." She told him. Eventually, a detective came to speak to her.

"Serena?" She asked. Serena just nodded. "Come this way please."

Serena went with Mike, Emily and the detective into a room. There was another detective waiting.

"My name is detective Cole." He introduced himself. "This is my colleague detective Fielding."

"So, what have you found out?" Serena asked him. He showed her the phone.

"We can confirm that this phone is Terry's." He told her. "We can also confirm that the last call made from this phone was a 911 call to the ambulance services."

He played her a recording, which she recognised as Terry's voice.

"This is Terry Watanabe, there's a woman in the alley just off Laird. She's been shot; she's suffering bad blood loss..."

The call was cut off, with some strange sounds, that sounded like a struggle. Cole just looked at her.

"What happened?" Serena asked him. "Why aren't you looking for him? Don't you see that..."

"The blood we found at the scene belonged to a mall security guard." Cole informed her. "She was shot in the alley, but she managed to walk out onto the street before passing out. She still hasn't regained consciousness."

"What's going on?" Mike asked. "Why was she shot? What happened?"

"There was a robbery at a jewellery store a short way from the incident in the alley." He informed them. "It went badly. So far, we have three security guards and two security guards that have been shot."

"Oh my God." Emily gasped. "Wait...if Terry found one of the security guards..."

"Two of the robbers were injured in the shoot-out." Cole informed her. "We understand Mr Watanabe is a medical student?"

"Yes, he is." Serena answered. "Wait...what does that have to do with anything?"

"In this state, doctors are legally required to report bullet wounds to the police." Cole informed her. "Most people know this, so if people are injured in the course of committing a crime, they have to find other ways of being treated."

"So, you think that they took Terry?" Mike asked him.

"When the security guard from the alley was found, it seemed someone had begun trying to treat her." Cole told them. "If the robbers saw that Terry could help, we believe it is possible they took him with them."

In another part of town, Antonio and Jayden were in the new restaurant building, meeting with some labourers and designers. While Antonio had an idea what he wanted done with the restaurant, he really wasn't that gifted with manual labour, and so they had made the decision that to get things moving along at a decent time frame, and to make sure that the work was up to standard, that they make the concession of bringing in professionals to help.

Antonio was standing with a designer, looking at some sketches he'd made of the space they had to work with, and smiled.

"Well, I have to say, this looks really great." Antonio said with a little excitement in his voice. "But is there any chance of having the big fish tank in the middle of the restaurant? Kind of like a focal point? I thought it would be neat if people could have a 360 view of it."

"Well, it'd mean a little juggling to make room for everything else." The designer answered. "We might need to redesign the bar to give us a little more room."

"That sounds great." Antonio stated. "So, how quickly can you start on this?"

"Well, once the labourers have finished with the structural work, I should be able to come in and start talking about textiles and colour samples." The designer answered. "In the meantime, I'll just take some more pictures and start on some new drawings."

"I have your number, I'll be in touch." Antonio replied. Jayden came in from the kitchen, where he had been overseeing some of the labourers.

"So, how's the kitchen looking?" Antonio asked him.

"Well, the good news is the new wiring and plumbing is nearly finished." Jayden declared. "The bad news is that the new appliances and units have been delayed. They won't arrive until the weekend."

"Well, that works out well." Antonio chirped cheerfully. "I can yell at them until they take the delivery charge off, and it'll give the workmen time to finish the new walls and flooring."

Antonio dialled his phone, and started to walk away.

"Hey, is this Leonard?" He demanded. "This is Antonio, you know, the guy that ordered a couple of grand's worth of kitchen fixtures from you? What's this I heard about the delivery date being pushed back?"

As he went into the back, Jayden couldn't help smiling. Antonio was truly in his element here. Although he was still nervous about the prospect of running the restaurant, he seemed to be getting the hang of juggling all the little niggles and jobs that needed to be completed before opening. He barely noticed as Baron came in, making his way over to him.

"Well, this place looks really different already." Baron admitted. "It looks like things are coming along nicely."

"Everything seems to be going well." Jayden told him. "A few minor niggles here and there, but Antonio seems to be on top of it."

"Well, that sounds really encouraging." Baron told him. "So, are you still on course for the original opening date?"

"Well, it's kind of early to tell, but I think we should be all set for opening on March 15th."

"March?" Baron asked him. "I thought you were planning on opening at the end of February."

"No, that's just when the paperwork's due for completion." Jayden reminded him. "The health certificates and everything should be ready by then, after which we just need a final OK from city hall, and then we can aggressively advertise the grand opening."

"Oh." Baron answered. "Right, of course. March 15th, I forgot. Antonio chose that date because...because of Easter."

"The Ides of March." Jayden corrected him. This year, Easter was on April 1st, which was comparatively early given that Easter was at a different time each year depending on the cycles of the moon. The Ides of March, or March fifteenth was a date with a slightly dubious date, often considered unlucky, being the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar. Antonio had decided on that date both because he didn't really believe in the superstition of the bad luck of the date, and also because he had an idea for an ironic, slightly humorous promotion for opening night, based on an Italian theme.

"Oh, right of course." Baron stated. Jayden just looked slightly surprised.

"Baron, is everything alright?" He asked him.

"I'm sorry?" Baron asked him.

"You just seem a little distracted." Jayden explained. Baron took a moment to respond.

"Sorry, there's just a lot going on at the sports centre." He informed him. "You know that they've dropped wrestling from the Olympics right?"

"Yeah, I'd heard something like that." Jayden responded. "Of course out of all the two thousand events they've got in the games, of course they intend to drop one of the events that was actually in the original Olympics."

"Well, there's some restructuring going on at the sports centre." Baron informed him. "They're letting some of the coaches go, and cutting back on the wrestling programmes."

"Wow, that's too bad." Jayden answered. "I take it you know some of the guys getting laid off."

"Unfortunately yes." Baron sighed. "Well, I'll let you get on with things. I have a class starting soon."

"You do?" Jayden asked him. "But...it's the middle of the day. Won't most of your guys still be in school?"

Baron just checked his watch, confirming that Jayden was right. His class didn't start for a few hours yet.

"Well, I guess I've got some time after all." Baron remarked. "So, can you show me around a little more? I'd like to see how my investment is coming along."

Jayden just indicated in the direction of the kitchen, following Baron as he made his way inside.


	18. Terry's Usefulness

Serena was wakened with a gentle shake, rousing her from her first sleep since she had found out about Terry's disappearance. In reality, calling it "sleep" was something of a misnomer. There was nothing restful about it, she was so terrified, with horrid thoughts of what might be happening to him that she hadn't slept or eaten in so long that what happened could be more accurately described as passing out.

Emily was the one that woke her. Mike, while now worthy in her eyes of being part of the family, knew better than to risk waking her. Emily showed her a paper cup.

"Three sugars." She stated. "Something tells me you could use it."

Serena just nodded and sat up on the couch, gratefully accepting the cup. She took a sip and looked to Emily.

"Have they...?"

"It's been over 24 hours." Emily told her. "Sadie and Grant are on their way."

Serena nodded in understanding. Although there was now a lot of evidence to suspect foul play, the cops still had to follow protocol, which meant that until 24 hours had passed, there was still every reason to believe that Terry had left of his own accord, and the evidence alluding to the robbery was purely coincidence. Now though, they were clearly giving serious thought to the theory Cole had suggested, that Terry's disappearance was connected to the robbery.

"I...I...I don't know what to say to them." Serena told her sister.

"The police have explained what they think." Emily informed her. Serena just shook her head.

"You don't get it Em; this is all because of me." She muttered. Emily just looked more than a little confused. "He left because of me."

"Serena..."

"I didn't want to say anything because of...well...what happened to you." Serena told her. "Terry and I...well...we've been fighting a lot recently."

"All couples..."

"No, we've been seriously fighting." Serena sighed. "For a while yesterday I thought he'd just left me."

"Serena...Terry's crazy about you!" Emily reminded her. "Whatever happened..."

"We were fighting about you." She admitted, silencing her baby sister. "Well, more accurately, we were fighting about...what I agreed to do for you."

"You mean...?" Serena just nodded as Emily held her abdomen. As a result of her illness, and the resulting surgery, she had been informed that it was highly unlikely she would ever be able to have children naturally. In her haste to comfort her, to assure her that Mike wasn't best served leaving her for someone who could carry on his line, she had volunteered to act as a surrogate. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want..."

"Serena, what you offered to do means the world to me, but I'd never want you to give up what you have with Terry." Emily told her. "It hurts, it hurts more than I know how to say to know I'll never be a mom, but...I'd never want you to miss out."

"But...I owe you!" Serena stated. "I owe you so much. The only reason you're in this mess is because you took my place..."

"Serena...it was a growth." Emily reminded her. "They aren't sure what it was, but it's not like a broken bone or anything. I got sick! There's no way it was connected to the Ranger stuff. You know that!"

"It...it just felt like it." Serena muttered under her breath. "It feels like my second chance...the fact I'm still here...it feels like maybe this was the price."

"Serena..."

"I hate what's happened!" Serena snapped. "So mush shit has happened to our family Emily! I wasn't meant to be alive by now! Stephen died because of me! Terry..."

"Serena, you can't blame yourself for every bad thing that happens in the world." Emily told her.

"Why not? I'm not even meant to still be here! If it wasn't for the Swordfish Zord, I'd be in the ground fertilising grass right now!" Serena stated. "Now because I am...Stephen's dead, Terry's God only knows where and you..."

Emily just grabbed her sister and hugged her as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"You can't blame yourself for this." Emily whispered to her. "I was devastated when the doctor told me what had happened, but I'd never trade your happiness for mine. If you..."

They were interrupted as the door opened. Sadie rolled her wheelchair through the doorway. Serena couldn't even look at her, feeling ashamed and guilty about the fact that the former Pink Samurai had no idea what had happened to her youngest child. She felt a soft hand on her face, and turned, finding Sadie looking at her. She opened her arms, inviting Serena in and hugging her, letting her sob into her chest. She knew how much Serena loved Terry, and she was just as worried. The only person blaming Serena for Terry's disappearance was her.

In another part of town, Terry was woken up rather unceremoniously with a sharp kick to the ribs. He looked up at the man standing over him.

"You're lucky we still need you kid. Normally anyone eyeballing me like that would be sucking lead!" His captor warned him. "You're needed."

"I told you..."

"We have the stuff you asked for!" The captor snapped at him. "Now, get up and get to work, before I decide you really aren't all that useful!"

Terry looked to another corner of the room, to someone bundled up in blankets, before getting to his feet and straightening out his clothes. He glared at his captor.

"Alright, I'm ready." He announced. The man just shoved him roughly from the room.

As he got to another room in the old tenement, he saw the two men he had been trying to help still lying on the makeshift beds. There were sheets, soaked in blood surrounding both of them. It was a miracle they hadn't already bled to death, Terry had indeed saved both their lives, but they were far from out of the woods. With no real medical supplies, he could do barely more than a patch-up job.

One of the others dumped a load of supplies in front of him. There were a few medical tools, some gauze, and some drugs. Terry looked at the stuff and then back up at his captors.

"This..."

"I swiped it from a vet's office!" A man in a mask snapped, answering his question. "Now, we got what you asked for, get to work!"

"I've already told you, I'm not a surgeon, I'm a second year med student!" Terry reiterated. "The bullet in this guy's shoulder needs hospital treatment! Even if he makes it, without the proper surgery, he's prone to gangrene! Without hospital treatment, he'll probably lose his arm!"

"He loses his arm, and you lose your brains!" One of the others warned him, cocking the hammer of his 357 colt to make the point. "You both do!"

Terry just took a deep breath and nodded in understanding. In the other room, bound with electrical tape, was a teller from the Jeweller's they'd robbed. He'd tried to save the security guard they'd shot, but in doing so they had seen that he had medical knowledge and demanded he go with them. He would have refused, but when he saw they had a hostage, he agreed. He knew that they were desperate, and that they wouldn't hesitate to kill the teller. He didn't have a morpher anymore, Mia had the Pink Morpher, and with no other viable options, the only way he could see that everyone would walk away alive was if he agreed to help.

"Get me some hot water, soap and as much clean cloth as you can get your hands on." Terry instructed him.

"Who do you think...?"

"I think I'm talking to someone who doesn't want to see his friends bleed to death!" Terry interrupted him. "Now, if you want to stand and debate the point, then be my guest, but I think your friends would appreciate it if you'd shut the hell up and let me get on with this!"

The man in his face just let out a low growl, before turning and leaving to attend to Terry's request. Terry turned back to the man on the table before him. His wounds were serious, and in all reality, he knew that without a hospital, all he could really do was a patch-up job. He reached to the drugs beside him, and started to load a syringe.

"Alright, this stuff's meant for dogs, so I'm not certain of the dosage." Terry warned the man in front of him. "Still, it's better than nothing. This is bound to hurt like hell."

Back at their apartment, Serena heard the phone ringing, and quickly answered it.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Is this Serena?" Detective Cole asked.

"Yes." She replied. "Have you...?"

"We have some leads, but nothing concrete." He stated. "We have some footage from the security cameras at the mall we'd like you to look at. We need you to identify Mr Watanabe."

"I'll be there soon." Serena answered. She hung up and looked to Grant and Sadie.

"They...they want us to look at some footage from the mall security cameras." She informed them. "They still don't know where he is though."

"I'll get the car." Grant answered. As they left, Emily sat on the couch, wishing there was more she could do to help.

"This...this is horrible." Emily muttered. "It feels just like when Stephen..."

"Emily, don't even think that way." Mike cut her off. "Until we know for sure, we have to keep our hopes up. You heard what the cops said, they probably took Terry to treat their wounded friends. As long as he's useful, they aren't going to do anything to him!"

"But what about when he isn't useful?" Emily asked him. "What if...?"

"Terry's one of the strongest, smartest people I've ever met." Mike assured her warmly. "If anyone can figure out a way out of this mess, he can."

"Mike, they've already shot five people!" Emily reminded him. "They don't care if they hurt people!"

"But they DO care about the friends that they took Terry to care for." Mike reminded her. "If movies have taught me anything, it's that bullet wounds don't exactly heal up with a band-aid. They need medical supplies, stitches..."

Mike's words tailed off, and Emily looked up at him. She saw the look in his eye that indicated he'd had a brain-wave.

"Mike...?"

"They'll need stuff to treat the injuries!" Mike rushed out, pulling out his Samuraizer. "In California, any doctor treating a bullet wound is legally required to report it to the cops."

"Mike we know that!" Emily stated.

"But they need medical supplies." Mike said with a smile as he held his Samuraizer to his ear. "Ji...it's Mike, I've just had an idea. Check with your friends if any pharmacies, free clinics or vets offices have reported any thefts to the police in the last few hours."

"Vets?" Emily asked. Mike just smiled.

"Another thing movies have taught me." He said proudly. "When someone has an injury they can't risk a doctor reporting, they go to a vet. There's not much difference between taking a bullet out of a dog and taking a bullet out of a person!"

Back at the tenement, Terry stepped away from the man he was working on, reaching for a coffee pot. One of the other robbers snatched it out of his hands.

"You've got a job to do, now get to it!" He snapped.

"I've had about three hours' sleep in the last day and a half, cut me some slack!" Terry warned him. "You're asking me to perform procedures on your friends that I've NEVER attempted, with minimal supplies."

"We got everything you asked for!" The masked man told him. "Now..."

"You got me everything except oh...a hospital, a surgical team and...oh yeah...people that actually have the expertise to do what you want me to do!" Terry told him. "You want me to do stuff that people have an entire team for, and take YEARS to train for!"

"So you're saying you can't do it?" Another robber asked, cocking the hammer of his pistol. Terry took a deep breath, seeing that he was dangerously close to escalating the situation. The only reason he, and the teller were still alive was because so far, it was in the gang's best interests to keep them around. If they believed Terry couldn't help, they would just be something that slowed them down while they tried to escape the city.

"I didn't say that, I merely said..." Terry thought for a moment to think of a way to stall for time. "I need another pair of hands. I only have two."

"If you think one of us..."

"What about the girl?" Terry asked them. "You can watch the two of us while we work on your friends. I need help, and if none of you..."

"Go and get her!" One of the robbers snapped. One of his friends came back a moment later with a terrified girl, around 18 years-old, bound and gagged with electrical tape. Terry looked to him.

"It'll be kind of hard for her to help if she's tied up." He stated. One of the men cut the tape binding her wrists, and ripped off the tape gagging her, shoving her in Terry's direction.

"Now, do what you said you would." He warned them, tapping his gun in an intimidating gesture. "The clock's ticking."

Terry pulled the girl closer, feeling her trembling in terror.

"Alright, I know it's hard, but try and get it together." Terry told her.

"I...I...I..."

"They're letting us live because they think we can help." Terry told her. "Now, I know this is hard, but just do as I say, and help me."

He gestured her to the table, handing her some cloths.

"Now, just press down here firmly." He told her. "OK, that's fine. Just do that until I tell you to stop."

Back at Serena's apartment, there was a knock on the door. Mike answered it, finding Ji standing outside.

"It looks like your hunch paid off." Ji told him. "A vet's office reported a break in half an hour ago."

"Thanks Ji." Mike stated, pulling out his Samuraizer. "We need to check this out."

"So much for a quiet retirement." Emily stated as she pulled out her own Samuraizer.


	19. Usefulness Expired

Mike, Ji and Emily all got to the vets' office, finding the place swarming with cops. It was a lot more than would normally be necessary for a mere break in. Clearly, they'd had much the same thoughts as they did. It was known that in the shoot-out at the jewellers, people were injured, including the robbers. Just like Mike, they'd come to the conclusion that they would need medical supplies if they intended to treat their injured...or at very least patch them up until they could leave town.

"Damn." Mike grumbled, looking at the sea of police officers. "We'll never get anywhere near the place to look around."

"So, it's a dead-end?" Emily asked him. "Still, if the cops are taking this lead seriously, maybe they'll find Terry."

"Not quickly enough." Ji sighed. "Besides, if a squad of police cars show up with sirens blaring, then Terry's likely to get caught in the crossfire. It's best if we deal with this quietly."

"But how?" Emily asked him. "It's not like we can just walk in there and..."

"Actually, I can." Ji said, de-morphing. They saw a smile on his face. "Wait here."

"Ji, you can't..." Mike's words tailed off as Ji strolled up to one of the officers, shaking his hand. Mike just shook his head in disbelief. "I guess I keep forgetting our mentor's got more connections than the CIA."

"Let's just hope he hears something that helps." Emily answered as Ji disappeared out of sight. "For Terry's sake."

Back at the tenement, Terry stopped for a moment to rest. By now, he was covered in blood, but he had finally stopped the crook he was working on from bleeding. He looked to the distraught bank teller as she stepped away, trembling.

"You did a good job." Terry told her. "Look, at me! You did great."

She just continued to shake. Terry wasn't surprised, between the fact she was being held captive with him by armed crooks, and the horror scene that had been inflicted on her, watching a man bleeding to death before her eyes. Terry just held her. "What's your name?"

"I...I...Izzy." She stammered. Terry smiled.

"I'm guessing this is the first time you've done anything like this?" He asked. She just nodded. "Well, for a first-time nurse, you did really well."

"Hey, are you finished in here?" One of the other crooks asked him. Terry just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Well if you mean are your friends here going to bleed to death in the next few minutes, then they should be fine." Terry told him. The crook looked over his two comrades.

"Right, I'll get the others to start loading up the van." He continued. "Then we can get out of here."

"Wait, what?" Terry asked him. "Are...are you serious?"

"In case you hadn't noticed kid, we kind of need to get going." He responded. "Now, you patched them up, we can make our way out of the city."

"You're out of your freaking mind. There's no way these guys are in any state to travel!" Terry reiterated. "This guy's hanging by a thread! On blood loss alone, he's not going anywhere without an ambulance and a paramedic! The other guy's not much better."

"They're tougher than they look kid." The leader stated. "Aren't you guys?"

Only one of them answered, and it was kind of an unintelligible moan. Terry just held up his hands.

"Look, I don't care who you guys are, or where you're going." He tried to reason with him. "Neither of us have seen your faces, and we haven't heard your names. If the three of you want to leave, believe me, stopping you is the last thing I'm going to try doing."

"If you think we're going to leave our friends to rot..." One of the others began, rounding on Terry. Terry just looked at him, getting in his face.

"Well, rotting is EXACTLY what they'll be doing if they don't get help!" Terry told him. "Their best chance is if you leave them here. We won't try and stop you leaving, and when the authorities come, they'll take them to an emergency room."

"I'm not going to a hospital to end up going inside." One of the men grunted, pulling himself up with his one remaining arm. He'd taken a bullet to the shoulder, a wound that caused Terry considerable trouble to fix. He'd ended up doing the best he could, and when he couldn't rely on stitches, he'd had to make do with superglue. It was an emergency treatment that wasn't exactly recommended, but was better than nothing in a pinch.

"Well, it looks like one of you is ready to go at least." The leader said with a smile.

"Sure, I just hope you aren't too fond of clapping." Terry stated sarcastically. The wounded man just looked at him.

"What are you talking about kid?" He asked.

"The shoulder is a ball and socket joint. The bullet ripped straight through it." Terry informed him. "You may not bleed to death, but if you don't get it treated by a surgeon, it's just going to get worse and worse. You'll end up losing your arm eventually."

"Wait, what?" He asked. He looked to his boss in a panic.

"And before you go threatening me with a gun again, it's no use. I can't do a shoulder reconstruction! We're talking about completely re-making the joint, you know...wires and plastic? Not only do I not have the equipment, it's well beyond my level of training."

"Boss, maybe you should leave us." The man sighed.

"No." He snapped.

"But...my arm! He said I'm going to lose my god damned arm!" He shrieked.

"He's just trying to scare you!" The boss answered. "He's stalling..."

"Look, you idiots are freaking psychos who have done nothing but shoot up a whole bunch of people threatened to kill me, and an 18-year-old kid about a dozen times! The last thing I want is you to hang around, believe me! If I thought you'd leave us alone, I'd pack your bloody cases myself!" Terry said rather angrily. "But I believe in the Hippocratic Oath. You know, do no harm! If you take those guys out of here in this condition, it'll be a miracle if they last a couple of days, and I can't in good conscience let you do that without at least warning you and recommending you do the right thing and get them the help they need, but if you don't mind your friends dying slowly, and in a lot of pain, then be my frigging guest!"

The boss smashed Terry in the face with the butt of his pistol, splitting his cheek and sending him tumbling over a table to the floor, scattering some of his medical supplies. Terry saw a scalpel a little way from him, and took it, secreting it in his hand, just out of sight as he turned back to the boss.

"That's the first and last time you talk to me like an idiot boy." The boss warned him. "Now, I'm going to ask you again, are these men ready to travel?"

"Are you taking them to a hospital?" Terry asked him.

"That's none of your concern!" He yelled. "Are they ready to travel?"

"Well, it's not exactly like there's much I can do to stop you is it?" Terry asked him in response. "So, I guess all I have left to ask is...what does that mean for me and the girl?"

"I won't say anything I swear!" Izzy rushed out. "I couldn't anyway, I don't know who any of you are! If you just leave us here..."

"I've seen too many movies to think like that." The boss said with a smile as his two healthy comrades came into view. Terry got to his feet, and looked to him pleadingly.

"Please, she's right. We don't know anything anyway." Terry reminded him, gripping the scalpel a little tighter. "Please, she's just a kid."

"Sorry kid, but you knew what the deal was." The boss stated, levelling his pistol at Terry's head. "I hope you think agreeing to come with us was a great idea."

Just then, the windows flew in. Emily, Mike and Ji came in through, taking down two of the gunmen. The boss grabbed Izzy, pulling her in front of himself, between Emily and Mike.

"What the hell? I knocked over a Jewellery store!" He screamed. Ji held up a hand to indicate to Emily and Mike to hold back as he saw the boss had his magnum pressed against the girl's head. They were way too far away to stop him before he could pull the trigger. "Power Rangers? Are you kidding me?"

"Alright, put the gun down." Ji warned him, sizing up the situation. With his mastery over metal symbol power, he could use his Samuraizer to destroy the gun, to cause it to fall apart in his hand, but he had his doubts. It had been months since he was injured in the final battle, but the nerve damage meant his hand and arm were not a hundred percent. If he was a split second too slow...Izzy would be dead. He didn't know if he would make it in time. His hand twitched as he prepared for action.

Terry was a lot quicker though. Seeing Izzy in danger, seeing her with the gun against her head...he lunged forward, driving the scalpel into his neck.

Terry grabbed the gun, pulling it away, as the man fell to the floor. In falling away from Terry, he caused him to pull the scalpel out of his neck. Terry looked on in horror as he saw bright red blood spurt out.

"Shit, I've hit the artery!" Terry called out, throwing the gun and the scalpel aside. He grabbed some gauze and pressed it to the man's neck. "Don't move, just stay still..."

"Terry..."

"I'll help...I can..."

"Terry...it's too late." Ji told him as he knelt with Terry. The former Pink Ranger looked at the man before him. He'd hit the carotid artery. He would bleed out in seconds. There was no way an ambulance would reach him in time. Ji leant over, closing the robber's eyes with his thumb and his forefinger as Terry looked down at his blood-soaked clothes, and glared at his hands in horror. He had killed a man. Emily tended to Izzy, who was completely hysterical. Mike came to Terry's side, and held him.

"Dude, it's alright." Mike assured him. "It was the only thing you could do."

"We...we should be going." Ji told them as he heard sirens. He looked back to Terry, wishing they could stay, but too many questions would be asked.

As they left, Terry knelt on the floor, still staring at his hands as the police burst in, sweeping the room for signs of anyone still armed. Tears ran down his face as he felt a hand on his shoulder. A police officer said something to him, but he couldn't quite register. He just nodded and went with them quietly to answer their many questions.


	20. Terry's Bad Night

**A/N:** I know my work has been sporadic, the fact is there comes a time to let a good team go. As much as I love the Samurai team, the time has come to accept that the story is coming to a close.

I will be completing the story, though the new chapters may be fewer and further between, to make way for new, fresh stories. Don't worry though, there's still plenty of time to bring all the new families to their new lives before we say goodbye. And as anyone who has read my other works knows, I am fond of "guest stars". It won't be goodbye, more of a "see you later".

Serena, Sadie and Grant were all waiting at Panorama Police Station for news on Terry. No matter how many times the staff assured Serena they would keep them informed about any progress, Serena just refused to leave. It was an agonising wait, especially since the cops were careful not to say anything in front of the family.

Sadie kept reassuring her, while Grant's main job was to keep Ava and Martin updated. They didn't live far enough away from town that they would take more than a couple of hours to be with Serena, but with Mike and Emily coming to town, there were two farms to tend to. It would be a tall order to find someone to keep both properties running while they were away. Grant was just assuring Ava that so far, Serena was being well looked after.

Just then, the doors burst open, and a large group of police officers, wearing tactical gear came barrelling in. She got to her feet as she saw that they had people with them. A couple of guys that she didn't recognise, being dragged along in handcuffs, suggesting they were the crooks. Another girl, a little younger than Emily was brought in, trembling as she came with them. Serena could see another family elated to see her, presumably they were her family.

It was then that they saw him being brought in at last. Terry, looking tired, and a little dazed, was being accompanied in by a couple of police officers. His clothes were completely covered in blood. Serena ran for him, embracing him tightly, feeling his arms around her in return.

"Serena, I was..." He didn't get a chance to answer. Serena kissed him passionately, completely ignoring everything else round about her. All she cared about was that he was here, that he was safe. It worried her that he didn't seem to be as responsive. As she parted from him, she saw the look in his eyes. He just looked completely dazed, like there was nothing behind his eyes. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, we need to get him to an interview room." He stated. Serena just stared at him blankly.

"But he..."

"I'm afraid we need to debrief him." Another officer told her. "You'll be able to speak to him soon."

"Debrief?" Sadie asked. "What happened?"

"Mom..."

"I'm afraid that the case is ongoing." Another officer cut him off. "You have our word that Mr Watanabe will be taken care of. We'll let you speak to him soon."

As they led him away, Serena just stood in the hall as the team broke up, going their separate ways.

"Where are they taking him?" Serena asked. "What's going on?"

"Serena, he was kidnapped. He's been through God knows what." Sadie reminded her.

"That's exactly why we should be with him!" Serena shrieked as Grant had to hold her back. "Where are you taking him? What's going on?"

They were interrupted as Emily, Mike and Ji came in behind them. Ji placed a hand on her shoulder. Serena turned around.

"The news will go out within the hour. We were the ones that broke up the siege." Ji told her calmly.

"You...you saved him?" She asked. Emily just nodded. "God, thank you! Thank..."

"Serena, please just listen." Emily told her. Serena just looked back to Ji.

"There's something you need to know about what happened." Ji said sadly, gesturing them aside. Serena felt her heart turning cold. Whatever it was they wanted to tell her, it didn't sound like it was going to be good.

Elsewhere in the building, Terry was taken into an interview room. As he arrived, a man was sitting waiting on him. He just looked at him.

"It's been quite an evening." The man stated. "My name's Sergeant Yule. I just wanted..."

"I...um..." Terry started to stammer, looking around. He ran a hand through his hair. "Just...I just need..."

"Mr Watanabe, please try to remain calm." Sergeant Yule told him. "We just wanted to hear from you what happened."

"Can I...can I please...?"

"I know this is difficult, but we would like you to try and remember what happened, while it's all still fresh in your mind." Sergeant Yule told him. He gestured to a chair, at which Terry just sat down, holding his head in his hands.

"Shouldn't I have a lawyer or something?" Terry asked him.

"We'll take a formal statement later." Yule assured him. "Just...for now, we'd just like to get a basic idea of what happened."

"Alright." Terry sighed, resting his hands on the table. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be anywhere but here. He was tired, he was on-edge, and he just wanted to see his family, to tell them what he had been through, to just...just hold them and know that they were there. "What do you need to know?"

"Let's begin with the Jewellers." Sergeant Yule told him, readying his pen and his pad. "Please, anything you can remember."

In another part of town, Jayden and Antonio were hanging around in the restaurant, overseeing the labourers as they packed up their equipment for the night. They had to lock up for the night, but couldn't do that until the labourers had gone home. They had the CD player playing some music, while they waited.

"Wow, it's amazing how quickly these guys work." Jayden said with a smile. "I have to admit, I had my doubts about the time frame."

"Trust me Jay, when you know how to negotiate, you can get things done." Antonio said with a smile.

"And the fact that Ji probably knows half of these guys has NOTHING to do with the deals you were able to swing I'm sure." Jayden teased him, shoving him gently. Antonio just laughed as he steadied himself on his seat.

"This...this is really happening." Antonio commented. "It's really happening. You don't know how long I've dreamed of this."

"I think I have an idea." Jayden sniggered.

"No, you really don't." Antonio told him, taking a deep breath. "Look, I always loved running the fish stands with dad, but I started the cart because I always wanted to be so much more. The idea that I could be running my own restaurant..."

"Well, technically MY restaurant." Jayden corrected him playfully. "Considering, of course, the fact that I'll be the majority shareholder."

"Whatever happened to 'what's mine is yours?'" Antonio asked him. Jayden just shook his head.

"That only applies to married couples." Jayden reminded him. "Something which, if I have my way, we will end up one day."

"I like the sound of that." Antonio replied. "I guess the only question is, will you take my surname?"

"Jayden Garcia?" He chuckled.

"Well, traditionally the woman took the man's name because he tended to have all the business dealings." Antonio answered. "And since I'll have a business..."

"MY business." Jayden repeated. Antonio just grabbed a paintbrush, slapping him across the face with it, leaving a large, blue streak. Jayden picked up a roller and started to chase Antonio around the restaurant. Neither of them noticed as the last of the labourers left.

The chase went right around the building, before Antonio tripped over a dust sheet. Jayden finally caught up with him, kneeling over him, threatening him with the roller.

"Alright, now what will that surname be?" Jayden asked him.

"Wow, you've gained weight since you stopped having to fight all those Nighlock." Antonio shot back in a giggle. Jayden just dipped the roller into a nearby paint tray, holding it up.

"Last time Antonio, what's the answer?" Jayden asked him. Antonio just looked up at him.

"Te Amo." Antonio told him. Jayden just smiled.

"Now, that's just fighting dirty." Jayden whispered. "Te quiero demasiado."

With that, Jayden leaned in, pressing his lips to Antonio's. He knew how excited Antonio was about the restaurant, and it made him happy to be able to help him. They both looked up as they heard someone come in the door. It was Lauren, who was with Jeremy. She turned her head, seeing the two of them on the floor.

"OK...um...sorry guys, um..." She stammered. Although she accepted their relationship, and indeed loved the fact that they made each other happy, there was a certain part of the whole proceedings she really didn't need to be a part of.

"Lauren?" Jayden asked her.

"Guys, we tried to call, but we couldn't reach you." Jeremy told them. "I'm guessing between the music and the tools...you probably didn't hear."

Jayden and Antonio separated, checking their Samuraizers. It was only then they realised they both had unanswered calls from a few of their friends. Jayden looked to Lauren.

"What is it?" He asked her, realising it had to be serious if pretty much everyone he knew had been trying to call him. "What's going on?"

"I'm guessing you haven't kept up with the news." Jeremy said as he turned off the music, turning over to the radio news. Jayden and Antonio listened in as the radio news began to relay the news about an armed police raid. It was the biggest news of the day, and was replaying constantly. Antonio just looked at the radio.

"Wait...did they just say...Terry?" Antonio asked.

"Terry was there?" Jayden asked. Lauren just nodded.

"Everyone's at the police station right now." She told them.

"Let's go." Jayden answered, grabbing his car keys. "I'll get us there."

Back at the police station, Serena, Sadie, Kevin, Mia, Emily, Mike and Grant were all waiting. Emily looked to her sister, seeing how distraught she was. She reached for her hands, holding them.

"Serena, he's safe now." Emily told her. "We just..."

At that point, Terry came out of the interview room, accompanied by Sergeant Yule. The family came over as he turned to face the Sergeant.

"Alright Terry, like I said, we will need to talk to you again." He said as he put away his notes. "We'll be in contact. Just try to relax in the meantime."

Terry just nodded weakly as he left. He was immediately swarmed with family and friends, all surrounded him. He felt arms around him, and he heard voices, but none of them made sense. It all just merged into a huge noise that meant nothing to him. He looked to Serena, who was just looking at him, like she was hoping for him to say something.

"Um...I'm alright." He told them.

"Terry, we know..."

"Look, I'm exhausted." He told them. "Can I just go home now?"

"Son, there's no shame in..."

"Please, I really don't feel like talking. I've done nothing but talk, I just..." He rushed out, before sighing. "Please, I just want to go home."

"Of course you can." Sadie answered. "We'll take you home."

With that, they all left, Serena taking Terry's hand in her own. She could only look into his face, wishing he would say something, but that was a hope that didn't seem likely to be fulfilled. He never said another word for the rest of the night.


	21. Terry's Intervention

A few days went by, and things were a little strained among the Rangers. By now, all of them knew what had happened with Terry. The robbery, and the following kidnapping and siege were big news in the city. Since the Nighlock had been sealed in the underworld, the newspapers had started to find it harder and harder to find things to fill their pages with. At one time, a mere picture of a Ranger would sell out entire print runs of papers. Now though, it seemed that journalists were out of practice with actually finding stories to write about. One newspaper had rather embarrassingly ended up running with a review of a local dog show as its front page! So when there was a story that involved guns, gangs, police shoot outs, and an armed raid, needless to say every paper in town was treating it like all their Christmases had come at once!

Emily and Mike arrived at the door to Terry and Serena's apartment, knocking on the door. Serena answered the door, looking decidedly upset. They knew she was worried about Terry. Even although the police had satisfied themselves with their investigation that he had acted well within his rights to defend himself, and informed him that they were not pursuing any action against him, he wasn't exactly performing back flips over it.

"Hey." Mike began. "We said we'd come by."

"Yeah, come in." Serena replied as she showed them in. While Mike and Emily only lived about an hours' drive away, the set up for the farm was at a pretty crucial juncture, and they'd already spent a fair bit of time away from the farm. Things were tough, but they still wanted to be there for Terry in his time of need.

"How is he?" Emily asked. Serena shook her head.

"More or less the same." Serena sighed dejectedly. "He's not been studying; he's barely even left the apartment all week."

"Yeah, we'd heard that from Mr and Mrs Watanabe." Emily said as she came in. "Why...why's it so dark in here?"

"Terry only comes out of his room if I keep the curtains closed." Serena informed them. "Given the way the papers have been, I'm not surprised. We unplugged the landline telephone days ago because they wouldn't stop calling."

"At least we still have your cells." Mike stated. "Is he around?"

"He's over here." Terry called out from the couch. "And by the way, he's got pretty good hearing, and he doesn't appreciate people talking about him like he isn't here."

Mike just looked to Emily, feeling a little guilty. To be fair, neither of them had noticed him lying on the couch. He was covered over with a blanket, and didn't seem to be moving much. There were a few empty chip wrappers nearby, making it look like he hadn't left the couch in some time. Mike just came across, sitting carefully on the couch, making sure he didn't sit on Terry.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." His words tailed off as he saw what was on the television. "Dude, are you seriously watching Nickelodeon?"

"It's the only channel I could think of that doesn't have news reports." Terry muttered. "Their airing schedule's anyone's guess, and they keep shoving that bloody SpongeBob on every hour of the day, but at least I don't have to hear about the robbery."

"Terry, we're all really worried about you." Emily said sympathetically as she came to the rear of the couch, reaching over and patting his shoulder gently. "Look, we know that what happened must have been horrible..."

"You don't have any idea." Terry stated flatly.

"Well, maybe we would if you talked to us about it." Mike suggested. "Maybe you can try and make us understand."

"Terry, we only want to help you." Serena said for what seemed like the millionth time. "Please, I love you."

"I know, and I love you too." Terry murmured as he sat up, making enough room on the couch for Serena and Emily to join him. "I just...I really just want to be able to forget all about this."

"But...you haven't been doing anything." Emily told him. "You haven't even been studying. You know it's only a few months until you start back at med school."

"Trust me, reading those books is exactly the last thing I want to do." Terry assured them.

"Terry, this isn't healthy." Serena told him. "You can't spend the rest of your life in here. You need to start..."

"I need to what Serena? Start studying for a medical career?" Terry asked her. "I killed someone! I broke the Hippocratic oath!"

"Terry, I seriously don't think that's what the intention is." Emily replied. "That guy was waving a gun around like a lunatic. He would have shot that girl if you hadn't stopped him."

"I'm meant to do anything I can to preserve life." Terry reminded them. "It's not like I lost a patient in a procedure, I stabbed him in the neck! I killed him!"

"If you hadn't done that, who knows what would have happened?" Emily asked him. "You're a good person, it's only natural this upsets you, but sometimes bad things happen."

"It's not like you didn't destroy your fair share of Nighlock." Mike reminded him.

"But that's different!" Terry snapped. "Nighlock were soulless, evil monsters, who did nothing but try and hurt people."

"That guy was pretty much the same." Mike stated. "The only difference between him and the Nighlock was they didn't have a choice in the matter. Like you said, they were monsters. It was always in their nature to destroy, just like it's in a bear's nature to hunt. I can't tell you why he did what he did, but he was a human. He made the choice to become a criminal. He made the choice to use that gun, and from what we saw, he was more than willing to sacrifice everyone in that room, even his friends. He was a different kind of monster. He was a monster by choice."

"Besides, there's something else that you might like to know." Emily pressed on, moving a little closer. "It's about the other two robbers."

"Ji checked up with his contacts." Mike added. "Those two guys you worked on...there's going to be some pretty serious hospital time in their future, but according to the cops, they'll both be fine."

"In fact, they went a step further." Emily continued. "They said that if it hadn't been for you, then they'd almost certainly both have died. Now, both of them are going to make a full recovery."

"They'll make a full recovery in time to go to jail." Terry said with a little snort. Mike just smiled.

"That's their fault. They made their own choice to go on that robbery." He reminded him. "But because of you, they can serve their time, and when they get out, they can get on with their lives."

"The security guard you treated in the alley made it too." Emily informed him.

"It's horrible that guy died." Serena told him, placing a hand on his. "But because of you, four other people survived."

"Maybe...maybe it's time to get out of the apartment." Emily suggested. "Maybe we can get someone you can talk to."

"I guess I can try." Terry answered. "I mean, if nothing else, it might get my sister and my parents to stop calling to ask me when I'm coming over."

"I'm sure my parents would like to see you too." Serena answered. "Not to mention Jayden and the others."

"Your friends will all be happy to see you." Emily told him. "Maybe a little time at the Shiba House would be good?"

"Jayden and Antonio don't get newspapers." Mike assured him. "And I'm sure they won't mind a night of DVD's...but please...until they start airing their shows in a schedule that makes sense...no more Nickelodeon."

"I guess I'm getting my jacket then." Terry sighed, getting up. "Um...maybe a shower."

"That would be a good idea." Emily said, scrunching up her nose a little. Terry just nodded.

"I'll just...um...yeah." Terry stammered, making his way to the bathroom. Serena just looked to them.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate this." Serena told them. "I was pretty much running out of ideas."

"Well, interventions are kind of a thing with us." Mike answered as he started dialling. "Kevin? Yeah, it's Mike. Head for the Shiba House and bring some take-away menus. We've managed to get the pink guy out of the apartment."

In another part of town, Lauren was sitting in the coffee shop, reading some books, while Jeremy and Sophie were working. She was working her way through a number of introductory books on several disciplines in an attempt to figure out what she wanted to do when she began at Panorama University in the fall. She was interrupted as Sophie came over, putting down a latte.

"Look, sorry it took so long, but we were getting slammed there for a minute." She told her.

"It's cool." Lauren replied, glancing up. "I'm kind of busy with my..."

She furrowed her brows as she saw that Sophie wasn't paying attention, instead looking at a magazine article. She just sighed. "Wow, am I really that boring?"

"Hmm...no, it's not that, it's just..." She put down the magazine, showing Lauren a supermarket tabloid, with a picture of a large monster on the front, that looked a lot like a huge moth. Lauren just looked at the picture.

"Um...OK, what is this?" Lauren asked her.

"Apparently in the last few weeks, some monsters have turned up over in Harwood County." Sophie informed her. "It says in here, there's even a new team of Power Rangers over there!"

"Really?" Lauren asked, cocking an eyebrow. "You take your information from the same tabloid that said the last Red Ranger was Michelle Obama?"

"Well...you never know, she might have been." Sophie said with a shrug. "I just thought...Harwood County's not that far away. Maybe it would be fun to head out there."

"You mean go on a Bigfoot hunt?" Lauren sniggered. "You do know that these pictures are probably doctored. There hasn't been a single news bulletin about any of this from a reputable source."

"Well, it has only been a couple of weeks since the first reported sightings; maybe it hasn't hit the national news yet." She suggested. "Oh come on Lauren, Jeremy and I are both going!"

"Really?" Lauren asked, looking over to Jeremy. "She's managed to rope you into this?"

"She can be persuasive." Jeremy said with a shrug. "If nothing else, at least it'll be a fun road trip. A few of us are going for the weekend."

"I can't believe you're actually entertaining this." Lauren groaned. She eventually just threw up her hands. "Alright, fine. If nothing else, I guess it'll be our first weekend away together."

"Yes! Lauren, it'll be a blast, I just know it!" Sophie rushed out. "You won't regret it!"

As Sophie left the table, Lauren just shook her head in disbelief, before pulling out her Samuraizer, dialling Ji.

"Ji, you'll never guess what I'm doing this weekend." She sniggered. "One of my friends is dragging me out to Harwood County monster hunting."

"Wait...what?" He asked her. "How did your friends find out about Harwood?"

"Find out what?" Lauren asked him. "It's just some crazy story in a supermarket tabloid..."

"Actually, a number of my contacts have reported some strange activity out there recently." Ji informed her. "I was planning on keeping an eye on things to see if we need to investigate further."

"So...there really is something out there to worry about?" Lauren asked him.

"Well, I don't know yet." Ji responded. "You said you're heading out there?"

"Yeah, I'm going with Jeremy and a few of his friends from Uni." Lauren said, with a little smile, still thinking about the fact that she really was about to head out on a road trip with her boyfriend for the first time.

"Then perhaps it wouldn't be the worst idea if you tagged along, just...take a look around." Ji suggested.

"Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt." Lauren answered. Ji just paused for a moment.

"Did...did you say you were going with Jeremy?" He asked her. Lauren smiled.

"Yes, I did." She informed him.

"Have a good time." Ji replied as he hung up. Lauren put her Samuraizer away, and looked over to where Jeremy and Sophie were working. She couldn't believe she was going on her first college road trip before she even enrolled. All in, it sounded like fun...

"Wait...if Ji's contacts are worried..." She commented to herself, before suddenly feeling something else. It no longer sounded like a simple road trip to go on some wild goose chase. It sounded like there may be a chance something was actually out there! Now, she was worried that Jeremy and Sophie were unwittingly walking into a potentially dangerous situation. Panorama was still recovering from Xandred, the last thing anyone needed was to go from one situation like that to another.

Jeremy came over, sitting beside her as there was a break in the crowd. He smiled as he put his arm around her.

"Sophie's already been online and booked our rooms. It looks like this'll be our first road trip." He told her. "Maybe we'll get some time to ourselves while we're out there. It's not like we can spend all our time out there looking for Power Rangers."

"No...I guess not." Lauren told him.

"You know, before, I thought this trip was really going to suck, but now you're going. I'm really looking forward to it." He told her, holding her closely, and kissing her softly. "I can't wait."

"Neither can I." Lauren replied as he left. She leant forward on the table, holding her head in her hands. Why was it that even after the war was over, her secret threatened to put those she cared about in danger?


	22. Terry's Decision

The Rangers and the Watanabe family all assembled at the Shiba House, waiting for Terry to arrive with Serena, Mike and Emily. They wanted to make sure he was surrounded by people that cared about him, but they didn't want him to feel crowded either, leading to their decision not to invite everyone. As large as the Shiba House was, they were something of a large family by the time siblings and parents were included into the whole deal.

Ji handed Sadie a glass, looking to her regretfully. She just reached up a hand, touching his shoulder.

"Ji, I keep telling you, it's alright." She said sweetly, with that smile that hadn't changed since she was Mia's age. It was a smile that warmed and melted hearts, and eased many a tense moment in the house, especially when Baron and Parry were on the verge of ripping each others' heads off at times. Right now though, it was slightly painful.

"Sadie, we're here for Terry..."

"Ji, I keep telling you, I don't blame you." She told him softly. "You can't keep beating yourself up about this."

Ji had been rather quiet on the whole matter. He had been at the tenement when the raid went down. He had been with the others when they crashed in, taking down the other would-be robbers, but when they had finished, there was still one man left, and he was the one holding the girl hostage.

Ji had no choice but to replay the whole scene over and over, trying to think how he could have done something differently. He was the master over Metal Symbol Power. He had fought criminals before, long ago in his youth, abusing the powers his family legacy had bestowed upon him against his father's wishes. Once, long ago, he had been confronted by a cop with a gun trained on him.

It was a different Ji that was in that parking lot, at the scene of what until he had arrived, been a turf conflict between two gangs. He was cocky, he was arrogant, and he was young. He was strong, fast, powerful...and he knew it. Even with the gun pointed straight at him, he didn't stop. Instead, quicker than the cop could pull the trigger, he had used a power symbol, willing all the metal components of the gun to fly apart, causing the gun to fall to pieces in his hand.

Ji had been in almost the exact same situation in that tenement. His opponent was nothing special, just a scared, desperate man with a gun. It should have been exactly the same; he should have dealt with it. He should have been able to neutralise the threat to his hostage without bloodshed. However, when the moment came, he just hesitated.

"I didn't act when I had the chance." Ji told her. "I could have done something. I could have taken his gun without taking another step. I could have ended all of it, but because I did nothing..."

"Ji, you judge yourself too harshly." Sadie said reassuringly. "You're the only one who believes any of that."

"But, if I'd..."

"Ji, take my hand." She told him. Ji did as he was told, only to feel her squeezing it tightly. He looked at her as she released him.

"Ji, your injuries left you with lasting damage, we all get that." Sadie stated bluntly, seeing the way he held his hand, rubbing some feeling back into it. "Sometimes, there are facts we have to accept. I'll never walk again. While you still have your arm, you have to admit, it is pretty obvious you don't have the same use of it."

"I...I have had some difficulty..."

"Besides, none of us are getting any younger Ji." Sadie continued. "If you'd tried to take that guy, the girl would probably have died. Who knows, maybe Terry would have too. The fact is, I know what I'd prefer. I'd much rather have to help my son deal with this than to bury him."

"Sadie..."

"You're a good man Ji. I know if there was any other solution, you'd have found it." Sadie interrupted him. "In the end, all we can do is play the cards we've been dealt."

"Thank you for your understanding Sadie." He said quietly. "You have no idea what that means to me."

"You're not the same person you were back then Ji, but then who among us is?" Sadie asked him. "After all, if Baron could grow out of that phase where he thought his Afro looked cool, then none of us will stay the same." Ji just laughed.

"When you put it like that, I suppose sometimes things do change for the better." He told her, looking over to where Brenda was holding Terri, talking with Mia, no doubt helping her prepare for when it would be her turn. Mia wasn't really showing much, but her t-shirt was a little tighter than usual, indicating she was starting to expand to accommodate the next generation of either the Wind or Water legacy.

As they looked to the door, expecting Terry, they saw Lauren arrive with Jeremy. He'd been kind enough to give her a ride home after his shift at the coffee shop once she'd received word of the intervention for Terry. She stopped in the doorway.

"OK, that is something I really need to get used to." Jeremy said with a weak little laugh. He was still a little nervous around Lauren's extended family, especially her brother. While most of them seemed happy enough to have him around, and if anything were slightly TOO eager to include him in activities and get to know him, Jayden was still a little distant. He begrudgingly accepted Jeremy's place in Lauren's life, even if it was clear he still wasn't wholly comfortable with the whole deal. He looked to Lauren.

"So...um...I guess I'll be going. This really is kind of a family thing." Jeremy told her, pulling her closely. "Plus...I'd really rather not be around when you tell your brother about this weekend when there's so many shinai lying around the place."

Lauren just kissed him softly, before showing him out of the door. As she turned back to the room, everyone was staring.

"What?" She exclaimed sheepishly. "Everyone else gets a love life without this much of an audience!"

"Not everyone else is quite so pricelessly adorable though." Emily teased her, jabbing her in the ribs as she, Serena, Mike and Terry arrived. Lauren just glared at her as they filed in. "Come on, you can't deny us all a little fun. Its great viewing!"

"Besides, it looks like things are going well there." Serena commented. "It looks like..."

"I think it's about time we order!" Jayden interjected, talking over them. "It'll take the restaurant a while to get an order this size out here."

"I guess that's a good point." Terry agreed. "After a couple of days of chips and dip, I feel like some real food. I feel like...egg rolls!"

"Then I guess it's Chinese tonight." Grant said, putting his arm around his son. "Alright, let's take orders!"

As the guys started to sort out the orders though, Serena noticed that Lauren was heading aside. She gestured to the other girls, before nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen. They all followed her, taking up positions around her.

"Look, we were only teasing..."

"It's alright, I know that." Lauren began, starting to fidget nervously. It reminded them a little of how twitchy she was when she first arrived at the Shiba House.

"Lauren, what's going on?" Emily asked her.

"Well, you know how there are some tabloid stories about monsters in Harwood County?" She asked them.

"Yeah, stories in the same magazine that told us Beyonce had secretly married Jeff Goldblum." Serena said with a little laugh. They all joined in, other than Lauren. It took a moment for them to realise that and stop. Serena just looked at her.

"Is this really worrying you?" She asked.

"Not really, I reacted kind of like you all did when I heard about the monsters." Lauren told them. "But Sophie and her friends are all kind of convinced. They decided to head out there on kind of a monster hunt."

"So?" Mia snorted. "People do stuff like that all the time. I remember going on a Bigfoot hunt with dad when I was eight."

"Yeah...the thing is...apparently some of Ji's contacts think there may be something in the rumours." Lauren informed them.

"So, you're worried that Jeremy might be walking into a monster hunt...with an ACTUAL monster at the end of it?" Emily asked her. Lauren just nodded. "Lauren, it's only natural to be worried."

"I know, but there is something else." Lauren told them. "I've...I've kind of agreed to go with them."

"You're going with them?" Mia asked her. "So, what's to worry about? If you're there, how much trouble can they get into?"

"Yeah, it means you'll be there to help if anything goes wrong." Serena reminded her. Emily just gave her a wicked grin though.

"That's not exactly what you're worried about though is it?" Emily teased her. Mia and Serena just looked at her. "I mean, sure, monster battles are never a great way to spend a day, but we've all done it for ages. We all know what we're doing, especially you, little ms. 'wielded a katana since she could walk and hold it at the same time'."

"Yeah, you're good. You know they'll be safe." Mia assured her.

"It's not them she's worried about is it little miss red?" Emily continued to tease her. The others took a second to see where Emily's thoughts were going, before the penny finally dropped. She was going on a road trip, going to spend a weekend away with her boyfriend for the first time. They both rounded on Lauren, finding her turning the same colour as her Ranger suit.

"Well...I..."

"So, it's a little dirty weekend away is it?" Mia teased her.

"What? No, it's nothing like..."

"But you'd like it to be wouldn't you?" Serena pressed on. Lauren just backed away.

"Um...I...um..."

"Lauren and Jeremy sitting in a...OW!" Emily was cut off from her little sing-song tease as Lauren bounced an orange from a nearby fruit bowl off her forehead. "You assaulted me with an orange? Seriously?"

"This is serious. I don't know if he's walking straight into a monster trap!" Lauren told them. "And...um...I'm not really sure...uh..."

"We don't need to have 'that' talk with her do we?" Serena asked. Lauren snatched up another orange, at which Serena held up her hands defensively. "OK, I'm kidding." Mia came over, putting her arm around Lauren.

"Look, it's a scary thing, but just know there's no race to the finish line here." Mia assured her. "No one knows how much it hurts taking that step with the wrong person than I do. Just...see how things feel. Trust your instincts; trust your gut, not your heart. If it feels right, then it's the right time. If not, just let him know. If he isn't willing to wait, then...maybe he isn't the right one for you."

"That's kind of what I'm worried about finding out." Lauren admitted. Just then, Terry came into the room.

"Guys, the food's on its way." He informed them. He looked to Serena and Emily. "Um...would you two mind hanging back a second? I kind of have something I want to talk to you about."

The others just left, taking Lauren back into the Living Room. Serena and Emily watched as Mike came in.

"Um...you said you wanted to talk when the others left." Mike reminded him. Terry just nodded.

"Look, I really just wanted to thank you for everything you've all done." He told them. "I know I've not had a great time of things recently, but you've all rallied around me. You've all been there for me when I needed it."

"Terry, we're all always going to be here." Emily assured him. "I..."

"Just...let me finish." Terry begged her. "When I heard what Serena wanted to do, what she had offered, I kind of flipped out. I just wanted you to know, I don't think badly of any of you for what you thought of doing. I didn't feel any outrage or anger...I get it, I really do."

He looked to Serena, taking her hand in his.

"I see what you have with your sister, what you have with your parents, and I honestly envy it. I know things are good between me and Mia and my folks now, but I didn't want to risk you going through what I did." Terry told her. He breathed a deep sigh. "I've seen it happen before. Sometimes, by the time it comes to handing the baby over, such a bond has been formed that it's impossible to give it up. I had nightmares that you'd get to the point that you'd not be able to hand over the baby. I knew it would destroy everything you and your family have."

"Terry..."

"Believe me; I know what it's like to be on my own. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." Terry told her. "I was upset about the surrogacy thing, but only because I was terrified you'd risk losing everything. It terrified me to think of what it would do to you if this tore you and your family apart. It would destroy you, and I didn't want to see that happen."

"Terry, I..."

"When I went walking, I thought about it a lot. Serena, what you're offering is an incredible gift. You can't possibly understand how proud I am that you'd offer it. It was always you I was worried about." Terry told her. "Then, when I was taken, when I thought my life was in danger, there was only one thing that I could think of. I'd never get to see you again and tell you that I get where you're coming from. I get it, and more than that, if you've made up your mind, I'm with you all the way."

"Terry?" Mike asked.

"If you still want to go through with the surrogacy, then I'm behind you all the way." Terry put down abruptly. "It doesn't matter what it costs, it doesn't matter what you go through, and I'll be there all the way. It's your choice, but either way, I'm here."

Serena just looked him in the eyes, her tears welling up and pulled in, kissing him passionately. She'd blamed herself for him leaving the apartment, for him ending up in that situation in the first place, but now he was telling her what she wanted to hear. He didn't blame her. He wanted to be with her. He would stand by her through the most important decision she had ever made in her life. As they parted, she just nodded.

"It's something I have to do." She told him. "It's something I want to do."

"Then, I guess I'm in." Terry said with a smile. As the sisters hugged each other, heading back through to the Living Room, only Mike remained with Terry. He just gave a little cough to remind Terry he was there.

"Um...don't you want to celebrate too?" He asked.

"Well, I do, but I think there's a bit of the story you're missing." Mike answered as he stepped closer. "You see, with all the drama and all the chaos, a lot of details have been missed."

"You sound like one of those cheesy noir films you like." Terry said with a smile. Mike just shook his head.

"There's one detail that doesn't make sense though." Mike continued as he approached him. "You live in an apartment on Sycamore."

"Yeah?" Terry offered weakly, wondering where Mike was going with this.

"And yet, the robbery took place in a Jewellers in the Northside Mall, almost the opposite side of the city." Mike reminded him. "So...why exactly were you so far from the apartment?"

"I took a walk..."

"For about four miles?" Mike asked him in disbelief. "I then got to thinking, what is there in Northside Mall that you don't have in walking distance from your apartment?"

"A killer food court." Terry offered. Mike though didn't look convinced. He pulled out an I-pad and pulled up a video.

"I had Antonio do some of his tech-wizardry and got hold of the security feed from the jewellers." Mike told him. "You weren't caught in the alley; you were caught in the jewellers."

"Mike..."

"You agreed to go with them so they wouldn't kill the teller." Mike pressed on. "That girl in the alley, you found her while they were taking you away to the get-away van. You weren't caught helping her. The reason they took you wasn't because they realised you were trained in medicine, you told them didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" Terry snapped. "It still ended the same way!"

"Well, it does make a difference, because of one question." Mike said with a knowing look on his face. "What were you doing in the jewellers?"

Terry just opened his mouth, but found no answers coming out. He couldn't think of one. Mike just smiled.

"The reason I didn't say anything about your decision to go ahead with the surrogacy is because I know you'd already made the decision that you were cool with it, before all this happened. I know this isn't just a reaction to surviving. You had a reason to be in that jewellers didn't you?"

Terry just sighed and nodded.

"Don't worry; I'll keep it to myself." Mike assured him, slapping him on the shoulder. "Just...don't wait too long. I've never had a brother. I think it'd be kind of cool."

With that, Mike headed back into the Living Room with Terry, rejoining the party, just as Antonio was regaling them with his master plan for his new restaurant.


	23. Lauren's Trip

Lauren was in her room, grinning broadly as she packed for her trip. Although there was a part of her that was a little worried that they WOULD find something in Harwood, and her friends would unwittingly be putting themselves in undue danger, she couldn't help feeling good about the trip. It would be the first time she and Jeremy were taking a trip together, and also the first time they would be staying together.

As she finished packing her backpack, and headed out to the Living Room, she found Jayden and Antonio eating breakfast. Unlike her, Jayden seemed to have something of a sour expression. He had done since Lauren had told him about the trip to Harwood. He wasn't too worried about her going to see if there was anything to the rumours of monsters and a new team of Rangers, but as soon as he had heard that Jeremy was going, his mood noticeably darkened. As she threw her backpack onto the couch, he just glared at it.

"So, are you ready to go?" Antonio asked her. Lauren just nodded, taking some toast from the table.

"Jeremy should be round to pick me up soon." She informed them. "I know it's kind of a mission, but I'm actually sort of looking forward to it."

Jayden just grunted as he continued to eat. He wasn't at all happy with the idea of Lauren spending the weekend away with Jeremy. Although he knew how much she cared about him, he still had his reservations when it came to their relationship. He'd already found his mind going places he really didn't like when he heard they'd be going on this trip together. Antonio had warned him not to say anything he'd regret though. It wasn't as though Lauren was going to listen to her baby brother when it came to her love life.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be a fun trip." Antonio told her. "I passed through Harwood once; it seemed like a really nice town. The woods are almost as impressive as ours, and the fishing is almost as good."

"Trust you to focus on fishing." Lauren chuckled. Just then, they heard a car pulling up out the front, and a horn sounding. "That's probably them. I'll call you later tonight."

"See that you do." Jayden warned her as she grabbed her backpack, heading out into the yard. Jayden and Antonio followed her out to see her on her way. Sophie was sitting behind the wheel of a mini-van, which had about four other people in it, presumably her friends. Jeremy got out of the side door and made his way over to Lauren, kissing her softly as he took her back pack from her.

"So, you rented a van?" Lauren asked. Jeremy just shrugged.

"It seemed to make sense." He told her. "It was that or try and get greyhound tickets."

"This way, we get to enjoy some more of the sights." Sophie chipped in. "That and we get to decide when and where we stop for breaks."

"So, are you ready to go?" Jeremy asked her. Lauren just smiled as she climbed in.

"Let's do this!" She announced as Jeremy joined her. Sophie pulled away, driving the mini-van out of the yard. Antonio put his arm around Jayden.

"She'll be fine." He assured her.

"I don't like this." Jayden told him.

"Seriously, were you ever going to be happy with this?" Antonio asked him. "Jeremy's a good guy. You know he won't try anything Lauren's not comfortable with."

Jayden didn't look convinced, but he knew it was pointless to keep going on about it. Lauren had already made up her mind to go. All he could do was hope that he wouldn't drive himself insane while she was away.

"I'll tell you what, how about we head to the restaurant?" Antonio asked him. "I'll show you how the guys are doing with the place."

Jayden just smiled. It wasn't long now until the restaurant was due to open, just under two weeks.

"Well, it has been a while." He conceded. "Alright, lead the way."

In another part of town, in their apartment, Serena was getting ready for another appointment with the doctor. Now that Terry had come on board with the idea of the surrogacy, everyone was keen to get things moving as soon as possible. They all knew that the sooner they began trying, the more likely it was to succeed.

"Alright, I'm just about ready to go." Serena informed him. "Mike said he and Emily would meet us at the hospital."

"I'll just call the cab." Terry told her.

"Terry, I just wanted to say, I'm really glad you've changed your mind about this." Serena told him. "I know this whole thing's been kind of difficult for you."

"I meant what I said Serena. It was never about me." Terry answered. "If you're determined to go through with this, then I'm with you all the way."

"I am so in love with you right now." Serena answered as she kissed him. "You are easily the most amazing man in the world."

"Well, you're the most incredible person I know." Terry returned the compliment. "Not many people would be willing to do what you are for your sister."

"It really isn't that big a deal for me." She told him. "If there's anything I can do for her, then I'm on board."

"Serena, before we go, there's something I wanted to talk to you about." Terry told her. Serena just furrowed her brows and sat with him. "I've been thinking a lot about what's important to me. The people that are in my life, what I want from life, and all I can think is that I can't imagine a life without you in it."

He looked her in the eyes and smiled.

"I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He told her. Serena just stared at him.

"Terry, it sounds a lot like..." Her words tailed off as she tried to catch her breath. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

"I...meant to have a ring when I did this." Terry told her. "But I kind of got distracted with the whole kidnapping and everything."

"Yes." Serena stated. Terry just looked at her.

"Did you just..."

"Yes." She reiterated, grabbing him tightly. "Yes, I will marry you!"

Terry smiled broadly as he held her in his arms, his heart racing. He loved her more than life itself. Knowing that she felt the same way, that she had agreed to spend her life with him made him happier than he thought possible.

"It...um...it might be a while before I get the ring." Terry told her. "I kind of have a thing about going near jewellers..."

"I don't need a ring." She told him. "Having you is more than enough."

It was a long drive, but a couple of hours later, over in Harwood County, Sophie pulled the mini-van into the parking lot of a motel. It was a reasonably modest looking place, but Lauren wasn't exactly expecting them to check into a ritzy place. Sophie, Jeremy and their friends were all students, which meant that they were travelling on a budget. Lauren didn't care though. As Jeremy put his arm around her, she just settled into his grip and smiled.

"Well, here we are, Harwood County." He told her. "We chose this place because it's close to the woods. That's where the tabloids say the monsters were spotted."

"Don't forget the new Rangers." Sophie reminded him. "That's what I'm curious about. I mean, I know we had our own Rangers, but with the monsters gone, they've just disappeared."

"Well, if you think about it, they really were only active to fight a war." Jeremy answered. "I imagine even Rangers are entitled to a retirement."

"Unless it's the same people, but with different costumes." One of Jeremy's friends suggested. "I mean, swords are cool and all, but why wouldn't they upgrade their arsenal once in a while?"

"Guys, we haven't even confirmed that there IS a Ranger team yet." Lauren reminded them. "Anyway, let's get checked in and get rid of our stuff before we go on this monster hunt."

"That sounds good to me." Jeremy replied as they headed inside.

Back in Panorama City, Terry waited patiently while the doctor took Serena through her procedure. They'd already explained what was entailed, and had warned her what to expect if the procedure worked. Now, all that remained was to go ahead.

Mike and Emily sat in the hall, holding hands as they waited for word from the doctor. It was a big day for everyone involved. After her illness, Emily had been told that she would be unable to conceive children naturally. She was sad, of course, that she would never have children that could continue her lineage, but she knew that Serena could always have children; to the legacy of the Earth Symbol power was safe. She was more upset about the fact that she would never be able to have children that could inherit Mike's Symbol Power. The surrogacy was their only chance of having children that shared Mike's genetics, and even then there was no guarantee that the child would be inclined towards the Forest powers. It was a long shot, but it was their only hope of continuing Mike's line.

"It shouldn't be too much longer." Terry told them. "The procedure itself doesn't take particularly long."

"It just feels like it's taking forever." Emily mumbled. "Even then, we won't actually know if it's worked for weeks yet."

"You have to stay positive about this." Terry reminded her. "Think positive."

"I still can't believe we're actually doing this." Mike said with a little smile. "This time next year...I could be a dad."

"That's more like it." Terry said as he leaned in closer. "So...have you thought about what you'd like?"

"As long as the kid's healthy, that's all I care about." Emily said with a smile. "Though I guess it would be good to have a girl. A daughter that I could be friends with."

"A girl, I like the sound of that." Mike agreed. "Though I have a feeling I'd probably start losing my hair when she starts dating."

"Mike, the kid isn't even born yet, and you're already going psycho dad." Emily giggled, shoving him playfully. "Give her a chance."

A little while later, a doctor found them. They all stood as he approached them.

"Well, everything went well." He told them. "It'll be a while before we'll know if the treatment's worked, but we're really positive about how things have gone."

"Can we see her?" Emily asked him.

"She should be fit to see you." He told them. "We'd really like her to stay overnight for observation, but she's insisting that she really wants to go home to rest."

"Serena really doesn't like to spend too much time in hospitals." Emily informed him. "Besides, she's living with a guy that's practically a doctor. It's not like she won't be looked after."

"Well, she seems to be in good hands." The doctor replied. "Just make sure she takes it easy. I'll just get the paperwork in order, and you should be able to go home."

"Thanks doctor." Mike said as he went to get the paperwork. They went into the room, finding Serena lying on a table, resting.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked her.

"Tired." She told him wearily. "The doctor said they're happy with how everything went."

"He said that to us too." Mike confirmed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I guess all we can do now is wait and see what happens."

"We can't thank you enough for doing this." Emily told her. "This...this is way more than anyone could ever have asked for."

Serena hugged her sister tightly.

"Well, if you want to thank me, just get us a pizza and we'll call it even." Serena told her. "We should really celebrate."

"But...we don't even know if it's worked yet." Emily reminded her. Serena just smiled.

"There are other things to celebrate you know." She told her sister. "Terry and I...we're getting married."

"You...you are?" Emily squealed in delight. Serena just nodded.

"He asked me this morning." She informed them. Mike just looked to Terry and smiled. He had figured out that Terry intended to propose before he was kidnapped.

"Wow, you really do believe in going against tradition don't you?" Mike asked him. "Not many guys would marry a girl after she's just agreed to have another guy's kid."

"What can I say? Tradition never really meant much to me." Terry told him. Mike shook his hand.

"Congratulations." He said as he patted him on the shoulder. "Welcome to the family."

"That's right; Mia and I will officially be sisters!" Emily recalled. "She's going to flip out when she hears this. She'll probably go into labour!"

"Well, hopefully not, it's a little early for that yet." Terry chuckled. "So...how about we get my fiancée home?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Serena responded. "We have a lot of phone calls to make."

Back in Harwood County, Lauren and Jeremy got to their room, but as they got in, Jeremy suddenly stopped. He turned and looked at Lauren apologetically.

"I...I didn't plan this, I promise." He told her.

"Plan what?" She asked him, before seeing what he meant. There was only one bed in the room.

"I'll call reception." He told her. "I'll try and get us a twin room..."

"Jeremy, its fine." Lauren answered. "I...I don't mind really."

"I was sure I booked a twin room." Jeremy grumbled. "I just don't want you to think I'm pushing anything. I really didn't plan this..."

"It's alright, really." Lauren assured him, looking into his eyes. "I don't mind."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him softly. Her heart raced as she looked at him. Mia had told her that she would know when it felt right to take the next step. She loved Jeremy dearly, and she trusted him implicitly. A moment later, they were distracted as there was a knock on the door. Jeremy just laughed.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"Hey, are you two coming or what?" Sophie asked as she came in. "The schools will be letting out soon, and I'd like to get to get going before the streets get too full of kids."

She stopped as she noticed Lauren fidgeting nervously and turning slightly red. She could see that Jeremy was also a little put out.

"Oh...um...I'm interrupting something aren't I?" She asked.

"It...It's alright." Lauren stammered. "Alright, let's get going. The sooner we get this search underway, the sooner we can go home."

As she left, Sophie just looked to Jeremy a little apologetically.

"Sorry, I didn't realise..."

"It's fine." He assured her. "Come on; let's see if we can't find some monsters before dark."

Meanwhile, in Harwood County High School, Gia was by her locker, sorting out the books she needed for her home work that night. The school day was coming to an end, and she had a number of extra credit projects she wanted to get started on. After a moment, she became dimly aware of someone hanging out near her. She looked round to see Jake leaning against the lockers.

She rolled her eyes as she saw him. Just like every other guy in the school, he was constantly trying to get her attention. He was more than a little obvious about the fact he wanted to get together with her, but just like every other guy, he just didn't get the hint that she just wasn't interested.

"Hey Gia." He greeted her. "Can...can I walk you home?"

"Why, are you scared to walk home by yourself?" She teased him. Jake didn't seem to realise how unsubtle he was. It wasn't like the guy was helpless, only weeks previously, both of them had been made into Power Rangers. He had instant access to a powerful arsenal, and super powers. There was only one reason he would want to walk with her.

"No, it's not that it's just..." He stammered, trying to think of something to say to cover up. He wanted Gia to walk with him, but it wasn't time to make his move yet. He knew that she was smart, and that she was classy. No, if he was going to win her over, he had to pull out all the stops. He needed to be smooth. This was one of the few times he could remember that she wasn't joined at the hip to Emma, and he didn't want to blow this opportunity. "Since we're going to be teaming up in battle, I figured we should get to know each other a little better. You know, socially."

"So that we'll be better partners in battle?" Gia asked him.

"Yeah, exactly." Jake agreed enthusiastically. Gia just sighed. He still wasn't getting the message. She was beginning to wonder if she needed to write the words 'not interested' on a mallet and smash him repeatedly in the face with it to get the message across. She just humoured him. "Alright, let's go."

Jake was grinning like an idiot as she said this, and he followed her out of the door. Gia started to head out, taking the shortcut across the park. Jake hurriedly caught up to her.

"Can I carry your books?" He asked her. Gia just rolled her eyes. Did he really just ask her that?

"How retro." She commented, holding her bag out. Jake was completely unprepared for how heavy it was though, and almost ended up on his face. Gia had to try hard not to laugh. Sometimes her chronic over-achieving made its own humour.

"Listen, we make a really good team." He told her. Gia just stopped. This had gone far enough.

"Look, Jake...I'm sure you're a great guy." She told him. "But...I just think you're..."

She stopped as she saw something descending from the sky, a few flying saucers that ended up hovering a little way above the park.

"Out of this world!" She called out, causing Jake to grin inanely. She grabbed him and pulled him in closely as she tried to observe what was happening. She stopped paying attention to what he was saying and just watched as the saucers launched out nets, capturing several citizens. She turned Jake around to that he could see as the saucers lifted the hostages away.


	24. The New Team

The five flying saucers soared through the air, taking their prisoners to a far away beach, dumping them unceremoniously on the ground. They all struggled against the nets, which seemed to have solidified into a huge, solid mass, with no obvious end. Lauren pushed against one section, while Jeremy pulled at another, hoping to find a weakness, but it just wouldn't give at all.

"Well Sophie, I hope you're happy now!" Jeremy grumbled as the saucers moved away, hovering a little way above the ground. In a flash of light, they formed up into a monster. "I guess we've found your damned monsters."

"Well, how was I meant to know they were real?" Sophie shrieked. "It's like you said, I found the story in the tabloids for Gods' sake! Do you know how many weekends my dad dragged me into the woods looking for Bigfoot? The biggest thing I found was a skunk!"

"Well, now we've found out that they are real!" Jeremy yelled at her. "Now of course we've just got to deal with the fact that we're all trapped in this freaking net!"

"Ah, now I have my test subjects." The monster declared as he started to make his way among the nets, inspecting his catch. "Hmm...a good mix of different age groups...ethnic backgrounds...gender distribution...yes, a very good sample group for my experiments."

"Did he just speak English?" Sophie asked.

"I'm a little more concerned about the experiments he mentioned." Lauren stated. "Hey, what do you mean? What are you talking about, experiments?"

"Well, we've not really been on this planet for too long." He cackled insanely. "Yet already we've found some resistance, so my master wants me to find out what makes you all tick. Figure out what weapons we have that work most effectively against you."

"OK, that definitely doesn't sound good." Sophie commented, starting to become worried. "Um...did I say to you guys how truly sorry I am about this holiday?"

"We can worry about that later." Lauren told her. "Right now, we need to figure out how to get out of here!"

As the hostages renewed their struggle to escape the nets, Lauren went for her Samuraizer, but realised that with so many other people around, there wasn't really any way she could use it without any of them seeing. Sure, no one was really looking at her, but the net was so tightly bundled, it was clear comfort was not a huge concern. Jeremy had been sitting on her right leg since they had been dumped here...God, he was heavier than she realised! She was struggling to think of solutions when she saw a flash of light a little way off. A moment later, a couple of Rangers in unfamiliar uniforms ran out of cover.

"Ah, some superior stock for my experiments!" The alien called out.

"You're planning on experimenting on these people?" The Black Ranger called out.

"Them, and now that you're here, you can join them." Yuffo stated.

"Um...yeah, that's not going to happen!" Gia answered, pulling out her blaster.

"Loogies, restrain the test subjects!" Yuffo screamed as a bunch of green monsters ran out of cover, swarming around them.

"Did he just call them Loogies?" Jeremy asked. "I mean seriously, they called a bunch of green monsters Loogies? Who the hell does that?"

Just as she was about to say something, Lauren heard a small bleeping, and looked down, seeing the Lion Zord crawling awkwardly out of her pocket. She didn't even know it was there, it had to have tagged along for the ride. Even though it had spent longer with Jayden, the Lion Zord was deeply connected to the Shiba clan as a whole, and fiercely defensive. It had to have decided to stow away in her belongings when she agreed to come out here. Lauren covered it with her hand, and set it to work, chewing the net.

"I...I think the net might be weakening." Lauren told the rest of the hostages in her net. "Come on! Keep pulling!"

As the Lion Zord started to work at weakening the net, she cast her eyes back to the battle, taking a look at the new team in action. She was a little concerned that there only appeared to be two of them. She knew that some of the previous Ranger teams had as few as three members, but with only two of them, she was concerned they would become overwhelmed.

It also troubled her to see the way they fought. The Yellow Ranger was a competent enough Martial Artist, it looked like she had a few years' karate under her belt at least, but she was no Samurai. She made prodigious use of her blaster to assist her when the Loogies started to overwhelm her.

The Black Ranger...his style, if it could be called that, was a lot more erratic. He was strong and athletic from what she could see, but he seemed to rely on that more than any real form of technique. He too seemed to rely on his blaster to do most of the dirty work for him. As they both got taken down, she found herself starting to wonder about how she could help them.

"Ah, to plasma blasts are effective against humans." Yuffo chuckled as he started to make his way towards them. "Let's try blunt force trauma!"

He sent the Black Ranger flying with a huge swipe, but the Yellow Ranger rolled aside, pulling out a device.

"Yeah, real scientific. You know ANYTHING breaks if you hit it hard enough right?" She taunted him, before calling out into the device. Lauren could only presume it was a communicator.

"They're only now calling for help?" Lauren found herself asking.

"What was that?" Jeremy asked her.

"Um...nothing." Lauren stated, looking down to where the Lion Zord was hard at work. It finished chewing through one of the strands, and Lauren pulled, feeling the net becoming looser.

"Here, it's working!" She called out. "I felt it move, keep working!"

She kept her eyes on the battle, and couldn't help shaking her head in disbelief. Now that Yuffo was taking part, the Yellow and Black Rangers were completely overwhelmed.

She renewed her struggle to get out of the net, but just as her frustration at being unable to show the new guys how it was done was beginning to get to her, she saw some more energy blasts heralded the arrival of the Red and Pink Rangers. Now the sides were looking a little more even, but she found her concerns resurfacing. The Red Ranger looked like he was the best, that he trained the most religiously, and seemed easily the most accomplished Martial Artist, the Pink Ranger though...she looked more like she'd been shown some things recently by a friend than having any real experience.

"That's it, that's IT!" Jeremy called out as the net finally gave way. Lauren snatched up the Lion Zord and put it back in her pocket, while the others dealt with the net.

"Hey, some of those prisoners got out!" Gia called out, seeing the hostages throwing the net off. There were four other nets, who weren't fortunate enough to have any way of cutting themselves loose. They all cried out for help, and Lauren wanted to go to them, but her left leg collapsed under her.

"Lauren?" Jeremy asked her.

"My leg's asleep." She told him. "You're a lot heavier than you look."

"I'll help you." Jeremy told her as he positioned himself under her arm. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"

"But we need to help!" Lauren protested, gesturing back to the battle.

"Lauren, you can't be serious!" He answered as he started to drag her away. "I want to cut those people loose too, but we don't have any way of doing it! I don't even know how we got out!"

"But..."

"We can't help Lauren, please just let's get out of here!" Jeremy told her. "I don't want to lose you!"

Lauren knew there was no way she could convince him to let her stay, not without telling him about herself. She reluctantly just let him help her limp away, all the while looking back. By now, the Blue Ranger had arrived, and the tide seemed to be turning yet again. By the time they got to the top of the path up the cliff, she saw that the team had shifted. It was a little rough and ready compared to what she was used to seeing, but it was definitely a lot better than their solo efforts. She turned at the top of the cliff in time to see them assemble their Mega Blaster, and destroy Yuffo. She smiled as she saw the nets disappear.

"Wait, did you just film that whole thing?" Jeremy asked Sophie, seeing her holding her I-phone. She just grinned and nodded.

"This is SO going up on the internet!" She yelled. "How many people get a chance to see something like this first hand?"

"You do know that guy nearly dissected us right?" Jeremy shot back. Sophie just looked a little sheepish.

"Um...OK, maybe this wasn't the best idea I've ever had." She commented.

"Wait, what's happening now?" Jeremy asked as a bunch of large, black bats descended from the heavens, and swarmed over the fallen form of Yuffo, clamping onto him and channelling energy into him. Lauren just watched as he started to grow to full size.

"It seems this town's big bad has the same bag of tricks ours did." Lauren commented. She watched the Rangers ducking and diving as the huge monster went after them. She remembered that she had the Lion Zord and was considering her options. If she told Jeremy about herself, if she explained that she could help, maybe he would let her slip away somewhere quiet to morph. She could see this team wasn't exactly the most experienced, and given the fact they hadn't called in Zords, she didn't even know if they had any. She was starting to think that Ji might have been right to be concerned. That was up until she saw the Zords roaring onto the scene.

"Oh man, I saw footage of this stuff on the news all the time, but I never saw it up close!" Sophie shrieked in glee.

"Sophie, we should be going!" Jeremy stated.

"Are you kidding? I'm shooting the first footage of the new Rangers!" She rushed out. "I'm not going anywhere!"

Looking around, it seemed like most of the other hostages had taken the same point of view. Now that they were free, they seemed to be a lot happier, like they now believed the Rangers would save them. Now, they wanted to watch them punish the creature that had taken them prisoner.

Lauren stood with them, and had to be impressed with the firepower they had. It was easily as impressive as anything the Samurai had. Before long, a huge cheer went up as the Megazord flew through the air, slicing Yuffo in two with a sword attack, destroying him in a massive explosion. Lauren just smiled. She had confirmed that there were indeed monsters in Harwood County, and she had confirmed that there was indeed a new Ranger team here to deal with the threat. Sophie started tapping some buttons on her phone.

"I am so uploading this to the website!" She declared. "I am going to be a legend! I've just shot the first footage of the new Rangers!"

"So, what do you think?" Jeremy asked Lauren, squeezing her slightly. "Was the trip worth it?"

"It always was." Lauren told him. "Now, can we get out of here? My leg's still killing me, and I really want to walk it off."

"Well, I heard there's a great ice-cream place in the mall." Sophie suggested.

"That sounds pretty good." Lauren agreed. "Um...can I get a hand getting there though?"

"Any time." Jeremy assured her as he helped her away.

Later, at a place called Ernie's Brainfreeze, Lauren was sitting with her leg up on a chair to support it. Jeremy came over, carrying an absolutely huge sundae, which he laid down in front of her, with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm really sorry about your leg." He told her.

"It's alright, it's not like you meant to land on top of me." Lauren answered. "I'll be fine after I rest up for a little bit."

"Well, I still really want to make it up to you." He stated. "Sophie and the others are busy back at the hotel uploading all that stuff they shot to the net, so for now, you have me all to yourself."

"Well, that sounds great." Lauren said with a bright smile. "Now, unless you want me to end up weighing as much as you, how about we share this sundae, then maybe you can take me back to the hotel?"

"Is your leg really...?"

"We can pick up a bottle on the way." She continued, turning a little pink. "Maybe...we could pick up where we left off earlier?"

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked her. Lauren just nodded. "Well, I guess I'm going to ask for another spoon then."

With that, he got up and headed over to the counter. Lauren just opened up her Samuraizer, and dialled Ji.

"Lauren?" He asked her. "How are things in Harwood?"

"Check out that Monster Hunter website Sophie's so into." Lauren told him. "You'll find some very interesting footage there."

"Very interesting." Ji answered. "This new team is real after all!"

"I'll say they are." Lauren told him. "I was one of the hostages."

"You were...?"

"It's a long story." Lauren interrupted him.

"So, you saw them up close?" He asked her. "What's your impression of them?"

"Well, they're no Samurai. Some of them looked a little green." She told him honestly. "They seemed to have some teamwork issues at first, but they pulled it together in the end."

She looked up to the corner of the shop, where she saw a group of teenagers, enjoying some ice-cream. One of them, a girl wearing a leather jacket and a yellow t-shirt was stroking her shoulder, clearly easing an injury. Lauren looked a little more closely, and all of them seemed to be in a little bit of discomfort, but they were laughing and joking...she recognised that joy. They were running on adrenaline, and while the injuries were clearly recent, they wouldn't really feel the worst of it for a while. She also couldn't help noticing the colours they were wearing. Red, Blue, Black, Yellow and Pink. She just smiled. Some things never changed.

"I see what you mean. A lot of this technique...it's pretty rough and ready...do you think it would be worth some of the team heading out there?" Ji asked her. "We could support them while we train them."

Lauren just couldn't help looking over the group. They were all young; they couldn't have been any older than Emily was when she was sent to the Shiba House. Noticing some school bags, she realised that they couldn't even be out of High School! The Samurai had the means to concentrate all their time and efforts to training, they had trained their whole lives for their role, and yet the latest team seemed to be just...a random bunch of kids.

Still, there was something about them, and the way they interacted that piqued Lauren's interest. She got kind of a vibe from them that there were deep connections that would over time grow into a strong team.

"It might be an idea to keep an eye on them." Lauren suggested, seeing the way the Black Ranger tried to get the attention of the Yellow Ranger, only to find that she rebuffed him with an off-hand comment that raised a little laugh from the others. "But I say we give the new guys a shot."

"You don't think we should intervene?" Ji asked her.

"Like I said, we should probably keep an eye on them for now." Lauren told him. "But I have a feeling they might just work out."

"Based on...?"

"Let's just say I have a hunch." Lauren told him as Jeremy came back. "I've got to go. I'll call you later."

As she hung up, Jeremy sat down.

"So, your dad or your brother?" He asked her.

"My dad." She informed him. "He worries."

"Your family is still pretty amazing to me." He told her. "My dad and I haven't talked in so long, sometimes I forget what it's like."

"Tell you what, how about we shelve the family talk for now?" Lauren asked. "How about instead we talk about us, and tonight?"

"You know what?" Jeremy replied, shifting closer, and looking deeply into her eyes. "I think that sounds just about perfect."

FIN!

Epilogue: With a new team to take up the responsibility, the Samurai enjoyed some peace in their lives. There were occasions where they needed to take up the sword again, but those are stories for another time. On the whole though, the actions of the Samurai meant that finally, their families knew peace.

Mia and Kevin got a pleasant surprise, when they went for a three month scan, they were told that they were expecting twin girls. It was something of a shock, but they both came to love the thought of their new family. Kevin even took the decision to retire from training, and giving up his dream of the Olympics. While others tried to talk him out of it, he simply decided that his dreams had changed. Now, all he wanted was to be the best father he could.

And Serena's treatment did take hold. As of the present date, she, Emily, Mike and Terry are all preparing for the new arrival.

**A/N: **I have taken the decision to end this story, before I run it into the ground. Truth be told, I may have been better served ending it a while ago, but hindsight is 20/20. Rest assured, this is NOT the last we'll hear of the Samurai. There may be shorts based on them, especially covering some of the major events to come, and of course, expect some cameos from time to time. I love this team too much to let them go.

I do know that the epilogue doesn't tie up all the loose ends...but then...that just leaves threads to be picked up in future doesn't it? Especially as they may just make appearances in the next few months, so..I don't want to give TOO much away right now. I just feel that running it as a serial is no longer the best thing I can do for this team.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this series, and thank everyone who read it, especially my loyal reviewers. Don't be too sad, as I said, it's too good a team to just put down. They WILL be making appearances in future.

Darien


End file.
